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SONGS OF 
AMERICAN DESTINY 

T T 




'All hail to the God who died — of man's woe, in man's stead ; 
now deathless and glorified,— King of the blessed dead I " 




ongs of jflmerican Destiny 



^^ 



^^^ 



n Uision of new l)ell<i$ 



By mniiamnorinan Guthrie 



DECORATED 
BY L. H. MEAKIN 




CINCINNATI 
THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY 
. 1900 

C 



f 



TWO COPii,.^ Hi^CElVeo, 

Library of Ccngreeji 
Office of the 

Register of Copyrlghfai, 






Cop>Tight, 1899 
By The Robert Clarke Company 



StCCi,D oOPiT, 






To 

CHARLES B. WILBY, ESQ., 

'who sees 

''no reason in ndtttre" for those ''hard hearts' 

that beat not to rhythm 

and rhyme, 

this little book is dedicated 

in token of friendship. 




PREFACE. 

OR ten years, the maker of these Songs 
of American Destiny has experimented 
more or less incessantly with rhythm 
and rhyme. It has been his desire 
not merely to acquaint himself practi- 
cally with the known technique of English verse, 
but if possible to increase its extant resources. 

The Blank Verse of Shakespeare, Milton, 
Wordsworth and Tennyson has wondrous possi- 
bilities — but for lyric work seemed unpromising. 
Every rhyme system on the other hand was 
necessarily to some extent mechanical — a preexisting 
form the molten poesy must fill. That rhythm may 
vary with mood, betray its ebb, announce its flow, 
its sudden turn of tide — make calms fek and storms 
— ^he had cause to believe from theory ; and Heine's 
North Sea poems, certain scenes of Faust, and pieces 
by Matthew Arnold like ** The Future ** verified the 
theory. Translating Leopardi's '^Ginestra^' (printed 
in Modem Poet Prophets : Essays Critical and Inter- 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



pretative, as illustration of the poet^s best work) 
much was learned of the plastic rhythm, picturesque, 
self-adaptive, in which allignment indicates pauses, 
usually such as are not syntactic but passional or 
merely of the verse* ** The Lion,*^ which appeared 
some months past in ** To Kindle the Yule Log,** 
was the first experiment that gave its author a sense 
of success. 

In the present work the narrative, the dramatic, 
the descriptive and the directly lyric portions are thus 
wrought out in rhythms — very much bound indeed, 
though the fetters, to be sure, are unapparent. A 
theme is taken, developed, caused to recur, to assert 
itself in changed guise, with novel stress, and made 
to characterize an entire section. For the following 
stanzas some other theme will serve in like fashion. 
Should a mood or image reappear the theme pre- 
viously associated therewith may or may not be 
pressed into service once again. 

As for the dramatic lyrics — formal digressions 
from the story, efforts at vivid realization of particu- 
lar figures or moments of the myth — ^they have been 
rhymed, but no fixed system was adopted. The 
rhyme is employed with a full appreciation of its 
binding energy, its power to hold together looser 
rhythms, — in fact for its license rather than its 
tyranny. Besides it sharply distinguished the pas- 
sages representing song, from those suggestive of 



PREFACE 



passionate speech. So the orgyastic rhyme recom- 
mended itself most especially to the maker of these 
songSt as serving his peculiar end. 

There is a disposition in looking at a work 
— if not such as has already been often done before 
— to fault the author for every innovation, chari- 
tably excusing him sometimes on the score of 
youth and ignorance. This preface appears only 
to compel such critics to an honester blame, 
one without reserve and apology — or to praise — 
their eyes open to the risk they run by failing to 
censure. 

In this book no promise is given, but, such as it 
is, a performance. Let it be considered as that — for 
good or ill. No true artist wants attention diverted 
from his work to his person. No true artist wishes 
his critic to indulge in hopes — ^but to do his business 
— criticise, u e* study, and %\stz, the public the results 
of his study. He asks not for advice. He has 
no need of patronization. Furthermore, the artist 
should be wholly unreckful of praise or blame how- 
ever much — yea — overmuch they may concern him 
as man. The artist hopes to please, to please by 
what is noble, and knows well that he must also, in 
his earnest effort to yield novel delight, give offense 
unto such as make of their past enjoyment a dogma 
damning the future; appending to their creeds the 
anathema that shall make new ideas smart because 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



of their impertinent desire for objective existence (like 
Homunculus in his crystal) ere yet their vital hope 
be realized ! 

The artist asks only that such as have 
received a thrill — a moment's joy — shall have the 
courage to speak of it to others, not that he may 
get praise, but the work do its duty — of making 
richer the human world in things of the spirit that 
quicken and delight. To the carpers — let notice be 
plainly served : this work did not intend to resemble 
any known performance — or differ from any, for 
the matter of that* It had one only ambition — to be 
the self it is. It announces no successors. It dares 
to claim a free use of the present tense. Let it be 
then, condemned by the fit — however few — rather 
than acclaimed as a pledge and promise by 
careless perusers, and senseless echoers of other 
men's opinions. 

Such arrogance is necessary to the artist's life. 
Let the public know it can inflict punishment only 
on the man. For the artist will work on (whether 
the public purrs, grunts, blinks, winks, looks away,) 
will never desist from the labor of realizing as best 
he can such Visions of Beauty as are vouchsafed to 
him, assured of the truth of Goethe's words : " the 
Will of Man is his Kingdom of Heaven. A per- 
petual necessity vexes: impotence in execution is 
horrible: a continuous volition, however, delights; 

10 



PREFACE 



and in a mighty will one may take comfort even for 
the impotence of execution/' 

Meanwhile, the printer has been instructed 
(somewhat to his amazement and discomfiture) to 
dispense with the usual luxury of initial capitals. 
An alignment shall indicate a pause — a, rhythmic 
one — not a syntactical one unless the allignment be 
reinforced by punctuation marks. Hence what cap- 
itals appear upon the page will facilitate readings 
have actual significance. 

The thread of the poem is given in a series of 
marginal rubrics (suggested by the Ancient Mar- 
iner); but no particular pains have been taken to 
provide them with independent literary merit. They 
are for use, not ornament. 

Then too with irregular stanzaic stmcture it 
seemed distinctly the printer's duty to facilitate 
reference by numerals. 

The **Song of Songs/* finally, appears as 
fourteen poems, so that he who in his sloth of spirit 
abhorreth a long work — or who like Poe disbelieveth 
on principle in its right to existence — may read them 
separately. The Hymns (pieces 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, J 4,) 
could be taken out of their context with relatively 
slight loss. The remaining eight parts would suffer 
more or less severely in consequence of such treat- 
ment. Still, they are prepared to suffer all things 
rather than spoil the reader's temper — for theirs at 

n 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



least can be trusted to seek no revenge by slander 
of the ill user. 

In conclusion, reverting to the matter previously- 
touched upon, it must be clear that no disregard of 
the reader^s prejudices has dictated any innovations ; 
no wish to be singular, no purpose to shock. Hence 
can not the maker of these Songs ask in all frankness 
whether the impertinence of him who praises his 
own work — suggesting that frequent perusals may 
possibly be required for a full appreciation of its 
merits; — whether such usually unprinted imperti- 
nence is more odious — or less — than the conceit of 
him who publishes what he professes to be ashamed 
of, asking on editorial knees pardon for the sin he 
intends committing with poetical feet? What of 
arrogancy which professes itself too poor for notice, 
and whines if the edition be not straightway 
exhausted ? 

Should the maker be mistaken, the sorrow is 
his and the shame. The reader has lost a few 
minutes, at most hours — the writer years — some of 
the best of his life. And yet it is great comfort to 
the maker that his creation has given him pleasure — 
that as he surveyed it his soul pronounced no mere 
** not bad ^* but a decided ** good ** — nay to be honest 
a **very good*^ — ** better than he had hoped *^ — 
** better than some readers may deserve.^^ And he 
fancies there may be found some of his fellows who 



12 



PREFACE 



shall feel with him* The chance is at all events 
better than his who hath experienced before pub- 
lication most grievous searchings of heart, blushes 
of hypocritical shame, and tremors of vanity wounded 
to the quick. 

Let the reader be apprized that the beauty of 
the book to his eye is due to the generous expense 
of pains and time on the part of the artist, Mr. L. 
H. Meakin, and the kindly assistance of Mr. J. H. 
Gest, of the Cincinnati Art Museum, in seeing it 
through the press. And may not the publishers 
come in for a share of the purchaser's gratitude — 
considering that they have attempted to realize an 
ideal, rather than lose their souls in calculations of 
sordid cost ? 

W. N. GUTHRIE. 
Cincinnati, October, (899. 



13 







CONTENTS 






I. THE FORESONG, . 

n, A SONG OF SONGS, 
The Vision of Demeter, 
The Coming of Dionysus, . 
Hymn to Dionysus, the Elemental, 
The Colloquy, 

Hymn to Dionysus, the Hero-God, 
The Transfiguration, . 
Hymn to Aphrodite, 
The Reconciliation, 
Hymn to Apollo, 
Rivals Divine, 
Votive Gifts, 
Hymns Hymeneal, 
Interlude, . . ♦ . 
The Banquet of the Gods, , 

in. THE AFTERSONG, . 

Mythological Index, 



. 19 

29-J87 

3J 

49 

6J 

71 

77 

95 

109 

\\9 

13J 

145 

\53 

\6\ 

175 

J 79 

189 

203 



J5 



TO THE MUSE 

Great was the joy of vision — ^the surprise 

of its first flash upon my spirit's eyes ; 

happy the prospect of poetic work, 

and proud the will no slightest task to shirk 

imposed by One who gave me to behold 

part of his beauty seen by men of old 

in Hellas. Nor could difficulties shake 

my resolution, however sore the ache 

of fevered brow and temples* Whence endued 

was thus my soul with sacred fortitude ? 

From whom the patience till the stubborn brain, 

once more obedient to the spirit sane, 

ecstatic toiled ? From thee, O best One, came 

the best : thy praise reward sufficient, and thy blame 

in hesitant look and tone, supplying will 

for renewed effort. Thou who dost fulfill 

all prayers of mine for truth, beauty, and good, 

in thine own self, thy blessed womanhood, 

intelligent eye, and subtly smiling lip, 

making earth heaven in the dear fellowship 

of thee and me, — ^thine be the reader's thank 

if never the song to ground exhausted sank, 

if on it speeded, spuming still low things, 

strong pinions spread of twin imaginings, 

to leap the chasms that broke athwart its course ; 

thine be all joy therein — mine the remorse 

that with thy help the song should not surpass 

all songs e'er sung of men. My shame, alas ! — 

yet as thine eye, O dearest, I consult — 

in what is thine my soul can but exult. 

17 



PART I 
THE FORESONG 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




The civiliza- 
tion of his day, 
(symbolized by 
his city in most 
odious atmos- 
pheric condi- 
tions,) fills the 
poet with a dis- 
gust of living. 
Yet he climbs a 
hill(ofHeUenic 
culture) thence, 
to take, above 
the smoke-pall 
ofsordidness,his 
last look at the 
heaven of all 
encompassing 
beauty. 



T 



20 



THE FORESONG 



JO 



15 



^ 




I 



UT of the town, 
drenchM by a penetrant 
wind-driven dust of rain, 
fast-gluing to the walls soot-flakes 
from grimy house-tops swept ; 
paving courts, alleys, streets 
with a viscous mire ; compacting 
the smoke-roof, propped by towers, 
spires, factory-chimneys, that threaten 
under the mass enormous 
to topple, and smother all life 
with gloom and stifling dismay ; 
out of the dusk, wet, slime 
of the hideous town 
my soul was fain to escape — 
stand on some dominant height 
for a moment, — behold 
once again the heaven bare, 
vibrant with sun. 



20 or die ! 



2) 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Industry cannot 
of itself seem 
noble, nor justi- 
fy existence. Its 
modern propor- 
tions but belittle 
the soul. 



^ 



And trade com- 
pletes the deg- 
radation which 
industry com- 
mences, till the 
things of the 
spirit are held 



22 



THE FORESONG 



^ 



n 

For, one forge 

of Hephaestus, the lame God, 

seemed modem civilization. 

A million anvils ring 
25 with the blows of his sledge; to view 

dissolving, on axles of light, 

the huge wheels dizzily gyrate ; 

vast, — as of Titans, in Tartarus 

fettered, — adamant knees 
30 protrude, fold, stretch 

with an agony rhythmical ; 

and the force of their breath 

convulsive, the electric might 

of their anger, by unwearying pull and push 
35 scintillant beams convey 

in the service of 

pigmy man ! 

m 

For, modern civilization 
seemed but the temple profane 
40 whose God, — Hermes of liars and thieves! 
Yards, choking with goods, his courts 
of high praise; ware-houses grim 

23 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 



cheap because 
unfit for barter 
and sale. 




^ 



Arraigning 
these only Gods, 
these effectively 
dominant ideals 
of his fellows, 
he did not ad- 
mit to himself 
his hope of find- 
ing a consola- 
tion in philos- 
ophy. 



24 



THE FORESONG 



his places most holy; thronged marts, ^^ 

(the booths, his altars!) shops, stores, 
45 and their counters for sacrifice 

constant — the sacred resorts 

of his popular worship. The streets 

his, with skurry of vehicles, 

whirr, rattle, roar 
50 of cars that transport 

votaries from shrine to shrine. 

On tracks, from all regions convergent, 

snort, bellow, 

shriek, jar with their train, 
55 locomotives, to freight quick and dead 

at phrenetical speed for His sake 

alone, whose victims, whose slaves, 

whose merchandise are all ! 



IV 

Hephaestus, artificer lame, — 
60 Hermes, covetous, cunning, — 

Gods of our time, 

what have yc made of the race 

once human? no beauty, no valor, no love! 

Industry ? — trade ? — an ignoble war, 
65 man clutching the throat of his fellow 

to compel him disgorge his gold ! 

Disheartened, dispirited, 

25 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




But when above 
the smoke pall 
of sordidness, he 
found the heav- 
en shrouded by 
vast rain-clouds 
of philosophic 
pessimism and 
of religion false- 
ly so called* 



T 



26 



THE FORESONG 



yet with one hope unavowed in my soul, 
I climb'd the steep mount of culture 
70 Hellenic, for vision of better things — 
or, a scornful farewell to the world. 



Far rollM soon under my sight 

astonished, the black voluminous surge 

of smoke — drear sky of who drudge 
75 in the city below. But, up-looking, my soul 

cried, passionate, for instant release: 

no rift of the heaven so achingly craved ! 

Overhead, a vague expanse — 

infinite cloud, — 
80 the general despondency thick 

atheistical, whence — cold 

wind-driven dust of rain ! 

Nought, nought, 

for the baffled eye of the spirit 
85 but the grey illimitable, 

shredding out rags of willess despair 

loathly loose 

into the flood of crass murk 

infernal, whose tumbling waves at my feet 
90 frothM pitch I 



27 



^ 



T 

PART II 
A SONG OF SONGS 



T 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




There appear- 
eth to the poet a 
vision as of the 
goddess of har- 
vest-home, who 
seemeth com- 
forted of some 
dole by a spirit- 
ual solicitude 
for the weal of 
others, and self- 
oblivious benef- 



^^ 



30 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 



^ 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

I 

Behold 

(if lore of names and of powers 

godly thou have, to assure 

fear-fascinate eyes) 
5 and declare, 

O rebellious soul, 

Who she be that walketh 

the welter of reek, as glebe 

blast-pIoughM, gust-harrow*d, rain-sown? 
10 Mark 

(though shrouded in ample, grey 

mist-robes,) how shy 

moves she, and hesitant, — 

wont to solitudes only of fields 
15 for miles under noon-sun awave, 

where crickets, incessant 

make hysterical mirth 

lest whispers, (o'er-heard from lips 

not of flesh in shuddering, heavy wheat-ears,) 
20 dismay the silly folk small 

who flutter, creep, bask in the weeds 

or the seams of the tolerant ground. J^ 

3J 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The poet, awed 
by the diety, is 
drawn by the 
mother in her, 
and recognizes 
the great Dem- 
eter of Eleusis. 



^ 



32 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

What shine— ^ 

wistful, unearthly 
25 not glad, — in her eyes ? 

(Yet so, under banks dusk-green 

of heart-shap'd shields, fretted 

at edges, hang not the violets 

of coy delight their sweet heads ? 
30 peep they not timorous, tear-twinkling 

at foot-sore passers-by ?) 

Yea, and not sorrowful 

seemeth her mouth: 

kind, as of one who her best 
35 giveth, for meed no-wise 

of devotion or praise, but of strenuous 

necessity, — love, so great that it knoweth 

itself not, simple, 

serene ! 

n 

40 Who art thou, lofty of stature, 

noble of countenance, — hands 

extended as proffering solace ? 

Mother of peace by endurance 

won, and of plenty wrested 
45 thro* sweat and patient abiding 

from soil else barren, I know thee ! 

Dumb with awe 

at thy presence, shadowy ^ 

3J ** 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 


^ 








^'t^i:^:p 


a££ 


^n 


^:\ 



The apparition 
or the poet's o'WTi 
spirit (which it 
be he cannot 
say) addresscth 
itself to console 
him, 



M 



telling the na- 
ture of Deme- 
tcr's immortal 
sorrow, which 
sprang of her 
ioy in love, and 
her love of joy. 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

Goddess, (whose virginal breast ^# 

50 pillowed the turbulent 

sea-lord, earth-shaker Poseidon,) 

dumb should I be, undesirously 

reverend, save that thy mother's 

palpitant heart, of tenderness 
55 infinite for comely Persephone, 

draweth, Eleusynian Demeter, 

to thee I 

m 

Nigher she came, 

loving lips parted, and words 
50 sorrow-wise, spake she of counsel, 

of comfort holy (repose 

in tone, in gracious demeanor, 

in wonderful gaze benign;) 

so, that who utter'd I knew not 
55 (a voice in my soul ? or the speech 

of her eyes, of her mouth ?) 

the soundless confession of truth. 

IV 

** Rightly, O son, thou deemest 
most ancient of woe-begone, loving Ones 
70 me ! Is there gorge 

of distress impassable, heath snow-bound 
by savage winds harried, sun-scorch'd 

35 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



r 




T 



36 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 



stony waste, untrod of my feet 
in the day of cruel bereavement 

75 bruis'd sore, and bleeding ? Hot tears, 
inconsolable, wept I not 
ages long ? — ^Hearken my tale ! 
The queen of ploughed lands, purple-mantled 
at dawn of the year, (through the quiet 

80 winter-nights wooed) to the storm-god of sea 
a daughter I bore* From babe 
in few days (or so seem'd they) 
miraculously budded she, bloom'd she 
to maidenhood gracious, — as sunbeams 

85 light-footed, like wells that up-bubbic 
laughter-brimming* For hers, 
all bursting buds ; hers, all uncurling 
fronds tender; all leaves, (goIdcn-pale 
ere the sky of its blue tint them green,) 

90 hers alone : most beloved, most lovable, 
yea, and of spirits the loveliest. Yet she 
daughter of Goddess 
immortal, (mighty to bless, to curse 
with abundance or famine,) yet she, 

95 daughter of God 

terrific, (whose wave steeds foamy-manM neigh 
as they run, paw, leap, fierce-rending 
with bitless mouths the wrecks of stoutest- 

bowM ships, 
she, she, rap*d of the fearful gloom, 

37 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




and also how 
she was com- 
forted in her be- 
reavement by a 
vision of the joy 
at the core of 
things^ and all 
enfolding, — a 
joy sincere, un- 
ironical, self- 
communicative 



^ 



38 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 



100 bride of death, queen of hell? She 

not undying ? Bare wold, cold flood 

eternal ? — yet she — 

the blossom sea-fatherM, earth-motherM, she, she 

perisheth? 
105 Ev*r under heaVn hath woman, hath man 

known pangs that I suffered not 

direr, acuter ? The evil-eyed, gloating, 

my torment, insatiate, beheld. Not mine 

the refuge of silence that brooks 
no no intrusion; to life 

without end, to despair 

everlasting, doom'd ! ** 

V 

** But out of the bed-rock of grief, stark, 

gelid, — no Zeus-hurl'd bolt 
1 15 could shatter, — of its own extreme 

tension asunder cloven, forth-gush'd 

Solace, a crystal-pure fount, that quenched 

(as I stooped me fever-hot lips 

to cool) the death-thirst. Then I hated no more 
120 the order unchanging of causes, the chain 

link in link of events without first 

without last. Then, no more 

wept I, perversely, to see the sun*s vigor 

of youth unabated; and over the shift 

39 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Learning that 
death is the 
author of life's 
glory, she •wept 
no more for the 
lost Persephone. 



40 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

125 and drift of low cloudy star-radiant still ^^ 

the blue firmamental, 

unwrinkled with thought. Then, then 

I perceivM, the Rapture (in all that is 

latent, and far out-reaching beyond 
130 the uttermost nought) implied for cark and care 

human no scorn derisive: — reckless 

of mind-fret and heart-ache (strange 

to itself, and irrelevant) wherefore ? — if not, 

in moment of passion's lull, hush 
J 35 of fury's exhaustion, — audibly sweet 

as a peace divine to intrude 

at length in the sufferer's soul ? " 



VI 

**Aidoncus! Aidoneus 

Him I had curs'd, bride-deflowercr, — ^mocker 

J 40 at sport with rent petals, dead leaves, — 
blighter, — scatterer — 
spumcr underfoot of the fair — 
whom never at heart (since hateful, sullen, 
foul,) I belieVd to be God, — in his very 

145 Self appeared to me then, of living things 
maker; deviser of form, and of increase 
in might ; chcrishcr, fosterer 
silent of beauty; whose mystical touch 
worketh wonders forever I Astonished, 



41 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



T 




T 



42 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

150 yet more I marvelled that ever ^C 

woe-misted these eyes of mine 

so blind became to mis-read 

the myth of the seasons recurrent. For, lo, 

is it not He who clippeth of wheat, 
J 55 of rye, the tresses ripe-sunny? and who 

if not He with flail of affliction 

from full sheaf driveth, (relaxing 

the hold of kindly husks) the bare grain ? 

And whose if not His the harsh breath, 
160 to shrill tunes of scorn, as flurry 

of fine snow whirling aloft, under drear skies 
ashen, 

the chaff ? From my hand, tight-cIenchM, 't is He 

snatcheth the choicest for seed 

in darkness to waste, damp-swoUen, 
165 and rot? Yet who if not He (as the com 

under sun for nurture of men 

ground, cometh in blush of maid, glow of youth, 
battle's might, 

cometh in mother's milk, joyous cry, laugh 
of babe,) 

who if not he in due season 
J 70 biddeth arise the new year's 

vaster harvests, ghost-pallid ? Aidoneus, who, 

if not Thou 

God of death?" 



43 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




And that mor- 
tal grief might 
have immortal 
cure, she shared 
her heavenly 
wisdom with 
such as experi- 
enced anguish 
like hers. 



^ 



44 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 



vn 

** Wherefore, summer's Goddess, a rite 

\ 75 faithful and holy of loyal 

sons I exact, whensoever thro* rich loam 
by steer-drawn plough the furrow is cut : — 
with solemn jubilation, therein 
newborn shall be laid an infant — the token 

J 80 that life (yea theirs, as of wheat, as of rye) 

upspringeth from th* gloom, death-begotten. For 

my soul, 
when the sense it conn'd of the mystery 
erst indiscernible, culIM (dejected 
no longer) wholesome fruit — heart's ease, 

185 quiet cheer of well-doing — ^to men 

grief-smit the deep lore imparting in grove 
Eleusynian. And none whom I taught 
fcar'd darkness thereafter, nor dust, nor cold sweat 
at the close. Aidoneus, of terrors 

J 90 grim King, most ruthful I showed to them. Her, 
(whom folk in their folly awful 
fabled, the daughter of Styx stagnant river 
corrupt, inexorable Queen 
of Hades,) to all I revealed as none 

J 95 other than pure Persephone, her lap 
heap'd with red poppies — oblivion 
of ache, of vexation, — yea and with white 
poppies, — dream hopes of a whiter 

45 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 






w ■»■- ■ 



^1^^^^>^?^ 





^ 



46 



THE VISION OF DEMETER 

dawn. So the grief ^ 

200 O my son, thenceforth at parting 

in glee of welcome is swallowed. The end 

lo ! no end, — but start 

more exultant ; the cycle of life no tedious 

round, — a ring for processional dance; 
205 and behold, even I, mother Earth, the venerable, 

wax youthful again 

and singing, singing with a myriad myriad 

stars through the thrillM heaven's vastitude whirl, 

blissful; for, ever to Aidoneus content 
210 I surrender my children, whom Aidoneus again 

forever restoreth 

more mighty, more fair ! ** 



'^V^ 




47 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



From the hori- 
zon's edge Com- 
eth sound of 
singing. 




When the words 
wax intelligible 
they prove to 
be a greeting to 
Demeter ; 



48 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 

a 

The words of Demetcr 

in my cars still tremulous, 
2\S persuasively sweet; — wind-wafted 

from the mingling of cloud-sky dun 

and the unquiet sea of dinginess — 

Voices as of maidens, for an alien grief 

tear-dew*d, but at heart 
220 life-glad, came gradually 

closer and clearer : — 

Why sigh we and cry we, as nigher we draw 
to her, 
appalled by her tallness and awful demeanor? 
The violence and silence of Hades are law to her, 
225 yet wailing seem*th sweeter Demeter to thee, 

weeping than smiling, howling than laughter ! 
Grieved One, bereavM One, thy child — hast 
thou seen her? 
Time now brings showers ; yet unfailingly after 
calls the gay hours to delight us, yea, dry away 
230 tears from all eyes, while our doubt-clouds fly 

away 
from the bright of the sky, and arc drown'd 
in the seal 

49 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




but the singers, 
it is clear, igno- 
rant of her cona- 
fort, miscon- 
ceive her mood; 



and, wearying 
of lament, re- 
sume the praise 
of their chosen 
deity, as though 
the salutation to 
another might 
seem disloyal. 



^ 



50 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 



So fresh were the Voices 

and so full^ youth-cheery, 

irresistible; — smiles straight followed 
235 in the wake of the sage words sung 

to a distinct rhythm of dance; 

and the mother of Persephone, the gracious, 
replied, 

sweet-smiling to me* 

Once more, swellM closer 
240 the melodious chorus : — 

/? 

Ho I go you and show you a holier joy in him, 
employ you your voices in boisterous hollos, 
for know you not, know you not Semele's boy 
in him, 
with whom you would toy once, you coy 
Ones, of old ? 
245 Noisily extol him, lowlily sue him ! 

Woe doth he sow and a joy-crop follows. 
Lo 1 you owe homage and honor unto him ! 
Grow you, O grow you, O vines of his 

choosing, 
flow you, O flow you, O grapes of his bruising, 
250 to the glory alone of your God of the bold ! 



51 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



The sire of 
their God, ack- 
nowledges his 
glorious son ; 




whereupon the 
maenads (fe- 
male devotees of 
Dionysus) ap- 
pear, and encir- 
cle Demeter, 



52 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 



Then knew I, unseen yet, 
the devout blithe singers. 
But suddenly, loud roared Zeus, 
the catacIysmaL His clouds broke, cloven, 
255 and a bolt cleared the atmosphere. 

Luminous the azure of the heavens through 

the rift 
burst happily in; 
sun-showers stream^ laughing 
from the frayed storm-edges. 



260 The surge of crass murk 

frothed pitch no longer: — 
bronze-red, ablaze, 
hurtling to foam of gold, 
spurting quick spray of fire, 

265 tumbling in glory. 

For, leaping and crying, 

a rout of wild women, 

with faun-skins loose-vested, 

limbs gleaming, locks flying in whirl 

270 orgyastic, surrounded the mother 

majestic and calm : — 



53 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



singing of the 
expected advent 
of Bacchus; 




of his miracu- 
lous divine be- 
getting and of 
his beautiful hu- 
man birth ; 



»» 



54 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 

He comcth, he comcth, (T* is he ! 'tis he !) ^ 

young again from barbarous Thracia, 
to Icaria, the wild ; o'er the isles of the sea 
275 from Phrygia, the rocky, and Asia ! 

From the gloom 
of the tomb 

he came, he came — 
God of gush, 
280 God of flow, 

the same, O the same 
God of flush 
and of glow, 

and the uproar of flame. 

8 
285 Oh I heard ye not, heard ye not told and retold 
the story of his wonderful birth ? 
begotten of the Highest, he is God of the bold ; 
of the Fairest bom, God of their mirth ! 
Speak out, 
290 shout, shout 

his name, his name ! 
God of wine, 
God of ire, 
the same, O the same 
295 of divine 

mad desire 

of the death-leap, and fame ! m 

55 *• 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



of his virgin 

mother, now 

beyond carnal 
stain; 




of Zeus's woo- 
ing, and recog- 
nition, by her. 



of her rapture 
in the God. 



S6 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 

Blessed Semele, — virgin 
who daredst to die 
300 thy glory to merge in 

that of Zeus the most high, — 
passion-whirls that we surge in 

thy feet cannot wet; 
rejoice, O white virgin 
305 where suns never set ! 



The God of heaven saw thee 

and lov*d thee, and wooed; 
lest his glory o'er-awe thee 

as shepherd he sued; 
3 JO but thou knewest him, Bride of God, 

thro' the human disguise, 
sweet Joy of God, Pride of God, 

Light of his eyes ! 

e 
** O Zeus, who didst fashion it — 
315 niy body be thine, 

so thou flash forth, God passionate, 

thy glory divine/' 
In delirious surrender 
of rosy-hued flesh 
320 Thou didst cry : ** Slay with splendor, 

and create me afresh ! ** 

57 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The maenads 
see their God a- 
far, and forget 
his birth in him. 



58 



THE COMING OF DIONYSUS 



He Cometh, he cometh ! *T is he, even he, 

son of Semele ! — Hail, Dionysus, 
from the low, and the mean, and the base to set 
free, — 
325 from ourself , to thy height to entice us ! 
God fearless, 
God peerless, 

O come, O come ! 
At thy glance 
330 who, O God, 

can be dumb ? can be dumb ? 
Tread the dance, 
that ye trod, 
to flute, pipe, and drum ! 




59 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




A young mae- 
nad praises Di- 
onysus as God 
of elemental 
fire. 



^ 



60 



DIONYSUS, THE ELEMENTAL 



t 



HYMN TO DIONYSUS THE 
ELEMENTAL. 

L A Young Maenad Singeth : 

335 Stay- 

near us 

to cheer us 

dire 

God 
340 of the panting heat ! 

Pray 

hear us, 

hear, hear us ! 

Fire- 
345 shod 

be thy alighting feet, 

that in spasm 

volcanic 

thy mount may awake, 
350 rend open a chasm, 

and with panic 

earth shake ! 

From the crater, 

Titan-hater, 
355 let the lava-streams fall, 

61 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




All the younger 
maenads laud 
him as God of 
raging water- 
streams, and of 
luxuriant plant- 
growth. 



T 



62 



DIONYSUS, THE ELEMENTAL 



and char 
near and far 
as they luridly crawl. 
In thick dark 
360 sow the spark 

to enkindle the pine : 
higher, higher 
leap thy fire 
with a thunder divine ! 



n. Semi-Chorus of Young Maenads: 

365 God of swollen springs bursting ; torrent-roar of 

wild force, 

uprooting the trees, and damming its course; — 

of floods, bowlder-rolling, to the plain down- 
hurlM;— 

of the landslip that crasheth on a slumbering 
world ; — 

Dionysus, thy ravage 
370 at length hath an end : 

for thy violence savage 

h the wrath of a friend. 

Lo ! thy vast vegetation 

upshooteth to cloak 
375 the old devastation 

with pine, laurel, oak. ^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



9^ 



An older mae- 
nad prays to Di- 
onysus as God 
of secret treas- 
ures. 




T 



64 



All the older 
maenads extol 
him as the God 



DIONYSUS, THE ELEMENTAL 



in. An Older Maenad Singeth : 

O God of the mysteries hid below ground, 

of the bed 

of thy red 
380 gold gloom-hoarded, 

keep them ever impenetrable to light and to sound 

from the smutch 

of the clutch 

of the sordid. 
385 So, the mystical treasures in deeps of man 

are thine only, O God, with glad eye to scan. 

Yet, at times (as thy river 

Pactolus 

of old 
390 for thy faithful adorer 

washed up nuggets of gold) 

when the anguish grows sorer 

than proud souls can bear, 

with glimpse of our God-self, Life-giver, 
395 console us, 

and vanquish our human despair ! 



IV. Semi-Chorus of Older Maenads: 

Man from good unto better must go, 

from better, ev*r on to the best : m 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




of immortality 
and spiritual vi- 



66 



DIONYSUS, THE ELEMENTAL 



thy guest in the life that we know 
400 is in death, that we know not, thy guest. 

God, marshaler of spirits victorious 

too great for earth longer to house, 

lead us, lead us to a world more glorious 

to revel in with thee and carouse I 
405 Thy grape-blood burns in our veins, 

and with madness our brains 

are on fire I are on fire ! 

We rise with thee, God, from the real 

to explore the eternal ideal — 
410 inspire us, inspire us, inspire ! 

Heaven's freedom from earth-bonds that bind us 

let our spirits, O God, anticipate. 

For a moment the shadows that bind us 

dissipate! dissipate! dissipate! 
415 We follow thee on, we follow — 

skim the air more swift than swallow I 

O ye wicked, ye fools, he hath sapp'd your 

foundations of carnal joy ! 

Your lies no more shall win you us : 
420 ours, ours the ecstatical rapture 

of the Gods (Evoi ! O Evoi !) 

the rapture of onrush continuous ! 

(Evoi! Evoi!) 



67 



«c 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



Together all the 
maenads hail 
him as the Ti- 
tan-slain God 
v/ho secureth 
everlasting 
blisses for the 
faithful. 




^ 



68 



DIONYSUS, THE ELEMENTAL 



V. Alt the Maenads in Chorus: 

All hail to the God who died 
425 of man^s woe, in man^s stead, 

now deathless and glorified, 

King of the blessed dead ! 

Maenads, wave, wave your 

green-flaming thyrsus 
430 as you leap for his praise in the whirl of the dance : 

hail, hail him the Saviour 

of incredible mercies. 

Lord eternal of fate, God the master of chance ! 



^ 




69 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



» 




Demeter mak- 
eth known unto 
Dionysus her 
office of consol- 
er, eliciting the 
human out of 
the torture of 
mankind. 



70 



THE COLLOQUY 



^ 



THE COLLOQUY 

I 

Their hymn of worshipful praise 
435 declaring the godhead 

occult of their Lord, to a close devout 

sung, — a stillness 

ensued; and Demeter, lifting 

her eyes to those of the flushM 
440 divine youth, became 

ancient in look, all the light 

of her wisdom veiFd* 
—''Art thou 

Demeter, mother of comfort from sorrow 
445 for men ? " 

—''Yea, son*' 

answered she mild " by cruel 

hardship ever the good 

from the ill are dissevered. Persephone 
450 fair, from the grave retumeth whither 

she went with all mortals 

down ; but the foul 

wax old in their death, and each 

(as memory in turn effaceth 
455 memory, recalFd in the mind) ^ 



7J 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



9^ 




Dionysus repli- 
eth that his 
function is ever 
to express from 
the human the 
godly. He (life 
and death being 
mystically one) 
identifieth him- 
self with Aid- 
oneus ( Hades, 
Pluto) and set- 
teth forth his 
awful anthro- 
pophagous rite. 



72 



THE COLLOQUY 



fades utterly out of the world. ^t 

Wherefore, my worshippers so 
teach I pain 

and bereavement to bear, that they rise 
460 from brute up to man — 
his stature, dignity, calm/* 

n 

** Well,** — retorted the beauteous 

youth, his eyes as he spake 

awful with shine 
465 inhuman — ** Mother, 

well hast thou said. To man 

thou leadest; but I, 

unbeheld, drive on 

thy worshippers up to the god. 
470 Aidoneus, 

King of death. King of hell, 

is none other than I, who greet thee, 

Dionysus, 

Lord of life. Lord of earth, 
475 leader of the blessed to the highest 

heaven. The good, who survive 

the law of thy duty, they 

my quarry are, mine Dionysus 

Zagreus, pitiless huntsman, torturer, 
480 flesh-feaster, blood-quaffer, the barbarous 

God. -^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




T 



74 



THE COLLOQUY 



BruisM, crushed, ^C 

shall the grape-berry be; whence, pouring, 

the life-juice transmute I to fluid 
485 fire! 

Yea, the hero, strong, brave, 

soul-fast, faithful, upright, 

unto death I pursue, that in death 

deified, 
490 they I maddened with murderous 

hate shall adore Him, (in death 

life-glories forth-showing they dream'd not of) me 

in Him whom they slew, even me 

beholding, their God ; and a love 
495 fervent for Him, shall breed of remorseful 

hearts issue divine, 

heroes innumerous as stars in the heaven ! 




75 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



f0 




Enthusiastic^ 
the maenads 
celebrate their 
winter orgies in 
the mountains 
to arouse the 
sleeping God of 
natural life who 
would else let 
the earth perish 
\(nth him. 



VW 



76 



T 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



HYMN TO DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 

Semi-Chorus of the Older Maenads* 

What is it he said ? 

Hath he fled? Hath he fled? 
500 Dionysus, the Hero-God, dead ? 

dead? dead? 

Up, up to the barren hill-pass 

swept of winter-blast chilling, barefooted, bare- 
head, 

ere manhigh the snow-drifts amass ! 
505 We will drink not nor eat, 

but the hard-frozen ground 

we will beat 

with our feet, 

and Pan-hoof shall pound 
510 to drum and shrill fife 

till the Dead come to life ! 

Bromios! Bromios! 

hark, the timbrefs hoarse roar, 

wail of wind, hoot of owl, 
S\S scream of eagle, woIf-howI, — 

wilt thou lead us, boisterous God, no more ? n 

77 *• 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The pans glory 
in their deform- 
ity and in their 
supernatural 
powers; 



78 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 

To the rhythm of our phrcnsy, ye *C 

north-blasts^ shriek; 

about us, ye snow-drifts, wheel 

and reel; 
520 till (the death-spell too weak 

for the God whom we seek,) 

He shall rise and his glory reveal. 

Lo, death is dead, 

and his spell is sped ! 
525 Thou hast conquered our mortal shame ! 

Let the cymbals clash, 

and the avalanche crash 

as we summon Thee, God, by name* 

Semi-Choruses of Pans* 

\ 

We Pans, we Pans, 
530 to but and to gore 

we have horns that are sore, 

and our legs are a goat^s not a man*s. 

Beware, beware, 

with our nails 
535 we tear, 

and we lash 

with our barbed tails. 

Like beasts, we rend 

with our teeth the rash 
540 who Zagreus, the huntsman, offend. 

79 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 




and threaten the 
emissaries of 
their God who 
shall dare, obe- 
dient to his hest, 
stand in his 
room. 



9^ 



80 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



We have ears as the lynx, 
and a fool I who thinks 
from the leer 
of our eyes to escape; 
545 for the snow-flake's fall 

miles off we hear, 
and a leaf-shadow's shape 
discern through the thick night's pall 



Woe ! woe I to the Man — 
550 though thou send 

him — 

who cometh, great God, in thy place ; 

we will but, each Pan, 

gore and rend 
555 him, 

and tear him limb 

from limb ! 

devour his flesh torn, 

lap and gulp his blood spill'd, 
560 till we free 

from the mask thy face, 

and see 

the quiet smile of high scorn, 

and thy spiritual eyes fire-fill'd ! 



81 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



Yet they show 
that in the trag- 
ic death the God 
is glorified and 
the hero made 
truly his reveal- 




82 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



Full Chorus of Pans* 

3 

565 For blessed, thrice-blest, 

the death that reveals thee; 
of thy fury possess^ 
the great life that feels thee : 
and deep, deep 

570 the abysses be 

of terrific despair, 

that steep, steep 

may the blisses be 

whose peaks cleave the air ! 

575 In the tragic death-strife 

from the blood-drunk sod 
springs the beauty of life 
that showeth Thee, God. 




^ 



83 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Enthusiastict 
the maenads 
announce the 
vernal resurrec- 
tion of the God 
of natural life, 
and praise him. 



84 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



^ 



HYMN TO DIONYSUS, THE PiERO-GOD 

Semi-Chorus of the Younger Maenads. 
\ 

O Pans, in the waste hill-gorges 
580 not vain were our mid-winter orgies : 

for his earthquake answers 

the tramp 

stamp 

of dancers, 
585 in new-got strength 

appearing at length: 

Lord of fire, water, gold, 

wine, song, 

dance, mirth; 
590 the great God of the bold 

and the strong 

of the earth ! 

O flute, O drum, 

O tabor and cymbal, 
595 back you *II us 

bring 

with loud scream, and leap nimble 

to the ancient hill-top bald ! ^ 

85 ^^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




T 



They describe 
Ms advent to 
the heights, a- 
thwart the flats, 
and the wild 
rush of iiis wor- 
sfiippers to meet 



86 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 

lacchus is come 'If 

600 whom appalFd 

we caird^ 

yea, come with miraculous 

spring. 

He hath sent a 
605 year of plenty 

that his faithful should fast not. 

The spell 

of dark Hell— 

we knew well 
610 it could last not : 

lacchus hath overcome it ! 

(how else could the strife resuk ?) 

Up, up the sheer summit, 

you Bacchic rout, 
615 to exuk, 

as ye raise 

the shout 

of his praise, 

in the heat of his mystical cuk. 

2 

620 On a chariot swift-drawn of panthers 

and leopards 
at dawn he appeared to the terrified 

shepherds, 
Silenus alone for fellow ! 

87 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



him with shout 
and dance. 




S8 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



and, behold, 

the meadow he dashed thro* 
hl^ grew gold, 

as his god-glory flashed thro^ 

with narcissi sunny-yellow; 

and roses wine-purple, flame-tawny, lily-whitc, 

burst abloom in his lightning track; 
630 the vines hung big clusters of berries, in a night, 

grapes glaucous, grapes sanguine, grapes 
swarthy blue-black ; 

the trees of the orchard, the trees of the forest 

became quick-quivering, high-roaring, fire- 
tongues of green. 

Against death with lifers beauty, O lacchus, thou 
warrest 
635 making lustrous the whole world, thyself unseen. 

In violent festal glee, brandishing torches 

aflare, thy mad maidens (as pours the volcano 

a lava-stream lurid that seethes and that scorches) 

to the valley 
640 forth-sally 

to the plain, to the plain, O ! 

to meet with laughter, peals upon peals, 

jubilant hollo and yell, O ! 

lacchus the God who our rapture feels 
645 and Silenus, his master and fellow. 



89 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



The satyrs pro- 
nounce them- 
selves, for all 
their baseness, 
true servants of 
the God. 




For, as tragedy 
arose from the 
anthropopha- 
gous feast, so 
comedy began 
•with the drunk- 
en revel. Theirs 
also is a high, if 
not the highest, 
office. 



90 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 






Chorus of Satyrs* 

I 

Not one of us, fierce quaffers 

though we shamble, totter, stagger, 
not one of us, coarse laughers, 

in the train of the God is a lagger. 
650 We are goat-thighed, like Pans, and lascivious, 

obscene in our humorous jests ; 
yet, O Maenads, of your lips why give ye us, 

of your waists, no joy, and your breasts ? 
Too fleet of foot, agile, alert, you 
655 fly on in your spirited folly. 

Yet, O Maenads, no Satyr would hurt you, 

bliss-drunken, and amorous-jolly. 



Little know ye your God if ye scorn us : 
your God, He is also ours ; 
660 for Silenus's sake love hath he borne us 
and a function assigned to his powers. 
Dionysus, the only God, jealous. 

He hateth a rival base. 
Then who be men's idols, tell us, 
665 whose favor they seek, and grace ? 

91 



V9 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 





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7^ 


\>\ 


^^ 


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5T X 




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B 


W^s 


i?^ V^\ 


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1^^^^^^ 


l^j^ V^i 




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92 



DIONYSUS, THE HERO-GOD 



Ours, ours is the God^s commission 

to shatter their images, 
free faith from superstition, 

distinguish what seems from what is ! 
670 Stalk forth thou bragging claimant 

to worship ! ^T is we who shall settle 
the debt to thee owed of the fool. 
We must make thee enough and quick payment 
in truest, most precious metal 
675 of comical ridicule. 

The people with laughter we initiate 

in the mysteries of heroism divine — 
would ye wish yet more gods to propitiate 
having known once the supreme God of wine ? 




93 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



T 



The effect of the 
hymn of wor- 
ship showeth it- 
self in a revel- 
ation to their 
eyes of the God's 
glory. 




T 



94 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 



THE TRANSHGURATION 

I 

680 Lo! while 

the elder Maenads, intoxicate, chanted 

the winter-praise boisterous 

of Bromios; while 

the Thracian huntsman (harrier remorseless 
685 of human game, Zagreus, man-eater) 

the Aegipans ferocious 

loud lauded in madness of savage 

rites gory; the while 

maid Maenads, grief-ignorant, 
690 of lacchus, earth-quickener, soul-kindler, 

ecstatical sang ; and while 

the Satyrs, mock-awesome, Dionysus exalted 

(foster child of Silenus, their chief,) 

for the exhilarant laugh 
695 of his mouth ; — behold ! 

in his votaries^ midst, the one 

Lord of their various moods 

shone transfigured — and, ringwise 

environed with multiplied visions 
700 emanative, drave 

Maenads, Pans, Satyrs back, 

extending their circle of worship, the more 

at the center his Godhead forthflashed. 

95 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




For from Dio- 
nysus emanate 
the dryads, the 
oreads, the nai- 
ads, the three 
charities and the 
muses three — 
various aspects 
of his deity sep- 
arately embod- 
ied. 



Jb 



96 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 



•« 



n 



Of bush and of tree the chaste spirits 
^^^ into being first leapt, with leafage 

arrayed, happy Dryads, blossom-crownM, 

their arms all together 

upthrown, wildly waving green boughs 

in his honor; the Oreads, shy, 
^^^ the Hill-nymphs, scarce veiling 

with misty robes their lithe shapes, 

hand-in-hand glided ; and next 

the Naiads of bubbling wells, 

frolic brooks, shamelessly glad 
^^^ flaunted as briar-roses fragrant their bare 

bodies light-dartling, dewy-wet 

from the pure and cool element. Thus 

ring within ring 

expanded, until, to right 
^^^ and to left of the deity, gleam'd 

(their locks tight-looped lest a ray 

of their naked effulgence, a line of their grace 

be obscurM,) the Charities three; 

and as holy as they, their virginal 
•725 beauty from eyes profane 

close-drapM, reflecting the fiat 

creative, their sisters three smil'd — 

the Muses. ^§ 

97 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The transfigu- 
ration is com- 
pleted by the 
appearance of 
Persephone as 
his queen in the 
midst of all the 
glory. 



98 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 



m 

Entrance 
730 the ordered, yet waywardly fleet 

interlacings I watch'd 

of the complicate dance : the shimmer^ 

the white glow of limbs ; the sweep 

float, flutter of drapery ; the floor 
735 of shine aquiver to the numberless 

trip incessant — feet of light 

diffusing quick spiritual rhythm, unheard 

of the ear, as perfume strange 

from tropic flower 
740 intense, bewildering 

the mind. Then I turned 

to scan the noble serene 

countenance kindly of mother 

Demeter. But, sudden her eye 
745 with bliss unwonted elate, 

(as of strange recognition, immediate, 

incredible,) straightway the beam 

of her gaze I followed 

perforce. And lo ! 
750 at the palpitant life-god's side 

a tranquil apparition of girlish 

loveliness, — blue veinM temples, and hair 

wheat'n-yellow, with poppies enwreath'd! 

None other, ^ 



99 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



1^ 



T 




Thereupon De- 
meter embrac- 
eth her child, 
and addresseth 
words of love 
to her. 



toe 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 



assuredly none than the sweet 
755 Persephone, so 

with utter trust as a child^s 
the God's hand could hold, or as she 
look in his dreadfully glorious face, 
with bride's proud blushful regard. 

IV 

760 Demeter's heart brimm'd 

visibly full, and ran over 

with blessedness mute. At length 

her emotion mastering : ** Child,*' she cried, 

** O my child, thou of spring's swollen buds, 
765 of silken leaves pale, of velvety fronds 

that ravel, of blossomy shoots, — speak, speak, — 

is it thee, my own, I behold ? 

Art thou, in very truth, spouse 

of the great lifc-giver ? Aidoneus 
770 rap'd thee not ? bare thee 

not hellward ? in hideous gloom 

secluded thee nev'r ? Or, perchance 

hast thou chang'd him, thou 

with thy love, from cruel, obscene 
775 King of dearth, desolation, despair, 

to a God of exuberant excesses and lustrous 

beatitude?" — Revercndly still 

the tumultuous host of the God's ^ 

m ^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



T 




Dcmctcr no'w 
in her joy re- 
mcmbereth that 
in her darkest 
moment Aph- 
rodite appeared 
to her, and, out 
of gratitude, she 
wishcth now^ to 
summon her in- 
to life again. 



T 



102 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 

adherents became, as daughter ^f 

780 and mother, long-parted, embraced 

speechless ; and Tree-nymphs, Hill-nymphs, 

Water-nymphs, Charities, Muses, all 

fastened with tender 

delight on the twain their eyes, and not few 
785 the holy tears that with bliss 

of reunion sparkled 

starrily. 

V 

'* Daughter dear,*' at last 

Demeter resumed, ** well knew I indeed 
790 ere sight I had of thee, child 

only-beloved, all, all 

that befell thee. But knowledge, 

(unto mourners expounded of me 

through the ages,) faded, the instant I saw 
795 thy face, to memories vague 

as of some wild adventure, dream-heard, 

impossible. For verily, child, 

my child, oft they, who when sorrows 

oppress have belief, if they meet 
800 face to face the desire of the heart 

are incredulous utterly. 

Now that however I know 

what I knew, and believe, 

well-laiowing, all that ere this I well-knew, 



103 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



I' 




T 



Dionysus ac- 
cepteth Deme- 
ter iDstead of his 
lost mother Se- 



104 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 



805 believing — no phrensy predictive 

sei^eth my soul ; but clearly 

methinks, and in absolute calm, 

I forsee such coming of thine 

with thy lord unto me, 
8 JO not without blessing for man 

shall have happened. My power, of thine 

seconded, daughter, availeth 

from dark non-existence to call 

Aphrodite once more, the beauty 
815 of flesh to the light of the world, 

that she 

the broken-hearted console, and help 

the lif e-Ioathing ; — as once thy mother 

of old she strengthen^ to bear 
820 bereavement unspeakable, — yea, with a promise 

sure of to-day*s encounter. For what 

signified else her smile 

insistent, persuasive, unless 

even this it decIarM : that never 
825 i^om earth, sky, sea, could the beautiful 

wholly pass, or perish 

from body and spirit of man ? ** 

VI 

** So be it even as thou, 
mother, hast said,*' replied the bloom-goddess 
830 turning in alternate joy ^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



mele, and Dc- 
meter loveth 
him as a son. 




T 



JOb 



THE TRANSFIGURATION 

of heart and soul from parent ^fc 

to lord, from lord 

to parent, — a yearning unknown 

to herself, beyond speech, in her look. 
835 Yet each, understanding, eyed 

strangely the other, one probing 

instant ; and first, Dionysus in her 

his mother beholding, (revered 

Semele, from infancy mourn'd,) relaxed 
840 his scrutiny, extending a hand 

adoptive ; and she, Demeter (the wise 

from experience of ill, the glad 

in goodness perpetual,) knew then in him 

the son divine of her soul. 
845 But aware of the triple felicity, no longer 

repressible, the Naiads burst into praise : 

Aphrodite, the queen, hailing, — the blessed, 

the beauteous, who, unwitting, 

gave to the sorrow-bowed strength 
850 of endurance, and hope to the soul-sick 

of yore. 




107 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



9^ 




The merry nai- 
ads sing of their 
own childish 
sport; 



but, hearing 
strange gossip, 
they implore 



103 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 



t 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 

I 

Gay spirits we of leaping wells 

trickled unabashM 

over mossed knobs, rough fells ; 
855 thro' dingles, bloomy dells 

tinkle-tinkle we plashed ; 

in hill-hoUows rallied, 

we rushed with loud laughter-screams ; 

spray-spurting, dilly-dalli'd 
860 in iridescent, foam-pallid 

green pools for day-dreams ; 

then, 

again, 

wild, uproarious, 
865 all, together, we leapt 

with the waterfalls glorious, 

and ocean-ward swept. 



Wondrous news from sandy shore-lands 
we heard of the summer-breeze ; 

109 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



that their father 
command the 
sea-nymphs not 
to withhold the 
truth from 
them. 




They are re- 
warded for their 
frantic race to 
the salt sea, by a 
vision of Aph- 
rodite's birth. 



T 



no 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 



870 for far never, never far ^J 

are 

the heights of jutting forelands 

from the spume of Hellenic seas, 

Dionysus, O imperious, 
875 bid our sisters, — Nymphs of Nereus, — 

recount us the marvels as they be ; 

lest they tease us, worry, weary us 

gay Naiads, tho* we emanate from thee ! 



O Hill-nymphs, O Tree-nymphs, 
880 why stayed ye at home ? 

for we saw all the Sea-nymphs, 

joy-drunken, toss the foam. 

Aphrodite 

that mom, 
885 the mighty, 

was born 

a girl-babe merrily 

cradled of a wave : 

and they caught her 
890 (sweet daughter 

she, of blue sky, blue sea) 

yea, and bare her off verily 

to a crystalline cave 

with frolic and laughter and boisterous glee I 



m 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 




They relate cir- 
cumstances of 
her rearing and 
tell of the mira- 
cles wrought by 
her maidenly 
beauty. 



Her journey, on 
the day of her 
showing to sky 
and sea, is de- 
scribed as a tri- 
umpfial prog- 
ress to the sa- 
cred isle of Cy- 
prus. 



9^ 



U2 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 



4 

895 Bubbles, pearls, corals and goldfish red 

her pretty childish toys ; 

hide-and-seek, with the Nymphs, o*er the deep 
seabed — 

a rollicking, innocent noise ! 

But quickly their foundling, their foster-child 
900 her playmates outgrew and their games : 

hers the girlhood mild 

sweet, undefi^d, 

whose beauty the sea-brute tames ! 

To men and to Gods it is time she be shown 
905 in her loose locks of amber arrayed, 

that the sea wash her feet with motherly moan 

and the blue sky acknowledge the maid. 

5 

In a concave billow 

they lay her down, 
910 white arm for soft pillow, 

gushing curls for gay gown. 

0*er the silk-smooth pellucid boat 

stretch a rainbow-woof sail — 

to hill-homed Cypress float 
915 bark fair and frail ! 

Her attendants summon clamorously 

light Zephyrus to blow. 

in 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




T 



The charities 
cheerfully ac- 
knowledge her 
superiority to 
themselves and 



n4 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 



Lo ! he pantcth, heart-amorously, 

and flying they go ! 
920 The Mermaids laugh, sing, 

and for gladness upfling 

their beauteous arms bubble-shiny ; 

whom the Mermen escort 

with hollo and snort, 
925 eyes on fire, cheeks swollen, beards briny. 

From his ram's horn sends the Triton 

lustily 

skyward a musical jet; 

sea-horses splash, dolphins spout : 
930 gustily fl 

mounts the spray, scattering, to light on ^ 

the naked Goddess, her maidens devout, — 

an attire many-beaded of twinkling wet ! 

Sly old Proteus her wizard forerunner is 
935 to quell the waves' turbulent riot; 

behold I heaven's glory upon her is, 

and before her the vast sea's quiet* 

Chorus of the Charities. 

Finale 

Between sister, and sister no disparity 
of beauty age or degree; 
940 we are each a gracious Charity, 

one in love, but in loveliness three. 

us 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



highly extol her 
holy virtue. 




WW 



n6 



THE HYMN TO APHRODITE 



Yet we hail thee, Aphrodite, who art fairer 

than we be in worshipping eyes : 
who soothest with hope the despairer — 
945 thy beauty than wisdom more wise. 
Thy grace never waneth, ever waxeth 

immortal Delight of mankind ! 
Thy hold on our hearts who relaxeth ? 
for thy smiles are the bonds that bind. 
950 Thou makest living joys out of griefs that are 

dead; 
as thou walkest, silver-footed, the day 
lust-monsters writhe under thine airy tread 

whom thy naked lustre doth slay. 
The Gods, yea, men likewise, no longer fear 
955 the glory of flesh and carnal pride 
if Thou, O peerless, O sane, art near — 
for by Thee are they purified. 



ny 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



t* 



^^ *^^^^^^^^^m. 


^^^Mi 


^PT^w^^I 


^^^^r^ 


$fv,\"^^ri^ 


S^B 




1 y£*^ 


^ n^^w^C^^H 


M 


^^m^ 




B 



Dionysus de- 
dareth that in- 
deed it is now^ 
high time beau- 
ty (Aphrodite) 
be once again 
associated with 



ns 



THE RECONCILIATION 



^ 



THE RECONCILIATION 



I 



Holy Mother, sage and good, 

heard have thy ears 
960 even now, ravishM, my lightsome 

Naiads, my Charities 

spiritual, utter in cadence the praise 

melodious of Her 

that shall once again charm, 
965 (thou hast said,) 

as in days of their youth, 

mankind. 

For verily, O Mother, 

long hath lasted the night 
970 already 

of toil, unhallowed 

by joy in the task; 

the night — all eyes blinding 

but such as glare cat-like 
975 with criminal craft ; 

too long ! 



119 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



He comments 
on the story of 
beauty's having 
wrought relief 
from acute sor- 
row, whence, 
in due season, 
Demetcr's wis- 
dom; 




T 



120 



THE RECONCILIATION 



t 



n 

When grieving well nigh 

in Thee, immortal, the goddess 

had slain, thou wast saVd 

980 by the life-joyous smile 

that in sorrow^s despite 
a smile responsive compell'd 
ajar to set 
the doors of thy soul's 

985 prison ? And slid 

not Hope in tiptoe, and close 

at her heels. Desire of life, her lover 

constant, who took 

each a languid hand of thine, 

990 leading with tender violence 

out of thy cell dark, grim, 
bare. Thee, to freedom 
divine once more ? 
Yet, as therefore Thou to the Cyprian 

99S Goddess the debt unpaid 

remcmberest, Mother, so I 
to the son, Delos-born, of Leto 
owe a friend's undying thank. 



J2J 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




and resolveth 
on his part to 
arouse disinter- 
ested intelli- 
gence (Apollo) 
from long slum- 
ber; 



recalling the 
service it (A- 
pollo) rendered 
to enthusiasm 



J22 



THE RECONCILIATION 



m 

Phoebus Apollo I 
J 000 shimmer quick-shifting 

of streams that upwell and outflow ; 

shine of my gold washed pure; light-ray 

of my fire volcanic ; oracular 

counsel uttered at large 
1005 from my core unconscious 

of things ; the vision's preternatural 

clearness in them I intoxicate ; truth 

serene, (first dimly discern^ from height 

ecstatic, whither the spirit 
1 010 I lifted,) in hours of intelligent 

quiet remember^ and understood ; 

O Pythian Phoebus Apollo 

who slayest ever anew 

with arrow of sanity 
J015 the monster of over-faith, 

Thee of the peak Parnassian, twin 

mount unto mine. Thee, Thee 

will I summon from agelong sleep ! 

IV 

For, nowise 
J 020 Demeter, O Mother 

true of Persephone, thy child 

123 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



(Dionysus) by 
making the lat- 
ter gentle and 




Aphrodite and 
Apollo -wrill 
both develop the 
body, each one 



124 



THE RECONCILIATION 

I ravish^t pain to inflict ^P 

on one who lov*d her, and whom 

not knowing I therefore Iov*d ; but assured 
1025 thou couldst never my heart's passion 

know, nor fate*s 

doom irreversible 

whereby thou borest Her, and didst rear 

to maidenhood only that mine 

she should thenceforth be ; assured 
1030 that willingly not 

to any couldst Thou, 

her mother, yield 

one so desirable; therefore 

forced was I, Lord of life, 
J 035 in the odious guise of the Ghost-god unreal 

on Her whose favor I crav'd 

violent hands to lay. 

But thereafter my souFs own brother, 

Apollo, the fierceness extreme 
J 040 of my deity ancient, soothed; 

so that even Persephone, timid 

and gentle, could forgive, 

nay, her ravisher cherish as now 1 

V 
Behold, thy labors 
J 045 (O Mother of Her who is mine 

and thine) shall be matched 



125 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



IT 



viewing it asthe 
supreme means 
to all good ends. 




Dionysus ex- 
presseth the true 
philosophy of 
affliction. 



}26 



THE RECONCILIATION 



by labors as gladsome. For Thou 

of the rude and gross, (the pressure 

continuous of pain ennobling, 
1050 refining,) wilt fashion, by little 

and little, the beauty of golden 

Aphrodite again; while I 

from the stony-hard gloom at the stroke 

heroic, death-dealing, at length 
1055 shall elicit the fire and the light 

of the Loxian. To grace 

She shall perfect, for service 

of love, the body; which He to feats 

athletic will harden at the hest 
J 060 of the manly mind. With charm of the lovely. She 

and with hope assuageth men's grief; 

while the end afar off perceiving. He, 

clearsighted, by knowledge controls 

the passion that else, rebellious, 
1065 would reason overthrow. 



VI 

So, sweetened thy memories 
of the old bereavement shall be, 
that never again couldst thou wish 
mother Demeter, the past 
1070 altered in ought, or the fatal 

J27 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




J28 



THE RECONCILIATION 

decree overrurd. The rougher ^C 

the rind of life's fruit, 
the sweeter the juice thereof 
express^ from the seeded pulp I Wouldst thou 
J 075 again to reach the broad, warm, 
fertile plains of peace, not press 
thro' the icy gorge of anguish — 
feet bleeding and bruis'd — 
once more ? 




129 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The oreads sing 
(by way of pre- 
lude to their 
hymn of Apol- 
lo) the praises 
of Leto(theIlid- 
den)hismother» 



T 



130 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 



H 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 

I 

J 080 Ever, from the womb 

of the witless hour, 
(of her beauty and power 
unaware,) 
the wisest thoughts of man 

1085 are bom, 

most holy and most fair. 
Ever, from the tomb 
of a right 
men 

1090 scorn, 

wingeth, 

(singeth 

in death^s despite,) 

a spirit again 

1095 of godlier might. 

Ever, from the gloom 
of the cloud-hid night 
folding eaprfi in sadness, 
springeth 

nOO at mom 

the Lord of the light, 

the King of azure gladness. 

m 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




They remem- 
ber the fall of 
Zeus's clandes- 
tine wooing of 
Leto; 



and recount 
ho'vtr she fared 
at the hands of 
wicked man- 
kind w^ho had 
not heard there- 
of. 



132 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 



By the banks of the stream 

of sleep^ 
J 105 and the lake of dream 

still, deep, 

the dark Night strayed 

a starry, chaste 

maid, 
I no and dipped her feet in the water 

to wade; 

when the white 

skfs Light 

his splendor effac'd 
\\\5 to glide 

undescried 

as a lustrous, proud swan to her bashful side* 

But, alas ! of his ruffled plumes unafraid, 

alas ! for the woe he wrought her, 
1 120 poor maid. 



The home she forsook of her girlhood, in shame, 
and sought out a lone spot to die ; 
yet soon for her child^s sake, unborn, she came 
to abodes of mankind far and nigh, 
M25 in Zeus*s name, the hospitable, food 
humbly imploring, and shelter. 

)33 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 



r 




)34 



Zeus Cometh to 
her aid, mirac- 
ulously fashion- 
ing out of a 
promontory the 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 



But, boorish, men void of pity 

thought scorn of her plea ; women, rude, 

insolent when they felt her 
1130 sore plight, jeerM, foully-witty: 

** What ? Zeus ? God Zeus was thy lover 1 

'twere impious to doubt of his truth; 

so we dare not provide 

for thy want,** they cried, 
1135 '*be assured his sky-roof guest-friendly will 

cover — 

and the bread of his board feed — ^the bride of 
his youth I ** 

That, cruel, the shaft 

her sick heart might pierce 

as Leto tottered and paFd, 
1 140 they gloated and laugh'd, 

and in mockery fierce 

her as maiden-mother hail'd. 

They knew not that ever God claimeth 

the child by man unclaimM ! — 
1145 Woe, woe ! who a mother shameth, 

forsaken — for he shall be shamed ! 



Horror smitten, of their lowland and highland 
men saw a rich vale, a steep hill 
by Zeus, thundering, riven : — an island 
J 150 afloat at the waves* wild will; ^fi 

135 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



^ 



floating isic of 
Delos, where 
her travail over- 
taketh her. 




Leto is bidden 
note the power 
and the love of 
Zeus, in that 
he hath trans- 
ferred to Delos 
the very stream 
and lake on 
w^hose banks he 
w^on her ; and 
the portents io 
honor of her 
son's birth are 
rehearsed. 



lb 



136 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 

and swift with the current it carried tK 

the outcast far from their sight, 

while the coarse women, maids yea, 
and married, 

lay prone on the earth with affright. 
1155 Lo I in seabound Delos, bereft 

of all human comfort and aid, 

writhes Leto, hid in a rocky cleft, 

of the awful end afraid. 

With child of a God, sore be her throes ; 
n60 loud-shrieldng, is her frail flesh torn, — 

then, utter hush ensues and repose. 

Is it death ? Nay, Apollo is bom ! 

5 

Mother Leto, awake ! 

What ? Mopus the stream 
M65 of lifers sleep, 

and the azure lake 

of lovers dream 

still deep, 

aflash with the sun's clear rise, 
U 70 do thine eyes 

not recognize ? 

Dost thou not feel the earth 

immense 

under thee heave, and shake 
1 1 75 with a mad, convulsive mirth ? 



137 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




T 



138 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 

Hark ! the depth of grey Ocean vents ^^ 

in waves of applause that break 

on shore-sands shiny, his joy at the wonderful 
birth. 

The winds waft fragrance ambrosial from sky- 
banks af lower ; 
U80 victorious palms, laurels lustrously ever-green 

leap from the crag, and the hillside bare, to em- 
bower 

Thee, mother of daylight, Thee, Leto, unseen I 

Flocks of swan-cloudlets from Asia come swim- 
ming 

thro* air, and encircle frotn East unto West 
I J 85 seven times, the risen Apollo hymning, 

the sacred isle that offerM thee rest. 

Palm-pillars of gold, laurel-capital'd, vast, 

up-shoot from truth's unplumbed ground under- 
sea, 

the rocking cradle of myth to make fast 
\ 190 forever, in honor of him and of thee; 

and the Cyclades all, at the blaze of his power 

shall encompass it, footing a miraculous reel, 

transformed to cloud-islands, at the magical hour 

when the burst of his innermost glory they feel. 
n95 In welcoming cheer, in musical hollo, 

let Naiads, let Oreads, let Dryads unite : 

All-hail, O Apollo! O Apollo! O ApoUo! 

God, newborn, of the risen sun's light. 



J39 



^^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The three mu- 
ses petition A- 
pollo and their 
sire, surnamed 
Melpomenos, 
that they be 
never required 
to follow other 
deities than 
them twain. 



^ 



140 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 



t 



Litany of the Muses* 
Finale 



Of music, of dance and of song 
J200 wc 

Three 
be 
mystical Muses, 
To our Lord and sire we belong 
1205 and the Soul that for his he chooses. 

But O best-beloved, brother 

of Melphomenos, noble Apollo, 
we pray that he bid us none other 
but Thee of all deities follow, 
1210 For thou art oracular shower — 
true fore-knower; 
of things as they be calm seer, 

fear-freer; 
of the heart's revengeful ire 
1215 purifier; 

when Thou bendest thy golden bow — 

woe! woe! — 
the white bone it will pierce with its arrow 
to the marrow ! 
1220 For, O Pythian hater of disguise 

and all lies ; ^ 

A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




W^ 



142 



THE HYMN TO APOLLO 

who lovcst the frank and the fair ^J 

that will dare 
look Thee, pure God, in the eye — 
J225 yea, die 

but not merit his own souFs scorn : — 

Thou hast sworn 
who cowardly hatreds cherish 
shall perish ; 
J 230 to back-biters and knaves Thou wilt send 
sore end; 
but the old, kind death shall obtain 

without pain 
of Thee, who men^s piteous ills canst feel 
1235 and with death or new life thy suppliant heal ! 
So, we Muses of dance, of music, of song, 

to Thee, noble Phoebus Apollo, 
and Melpomenos, only, our father, belong 
and no other Gods ever will follow I 




J43 



€^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The company 
divideth, one 
side prefemng 
Aphrodite to 
the left of Per- 
sephone, and 
the other side, 
to the right of 
Dionystis, par- 
ticular votaries 
of Apollo. 



144 



RIVALS DIVINE 



t 



RIVALS DIVINE 

I 

1240 As their praise of the Loxian 

the Muses three, ended 

in joy of faith, not without awe 

or wondering love, — the host 

of worshippers, subdued 
1245 by the singing, divided in twain 

ranging about the emanative 

splendors, (seen first in ardors intense 

of devotion,) a crescent to right of the God 

Melpomenos : — his Muses white-clad, 
1250 his Hill-nymphs diaphanous-shrouded, 

his green-garmented Dryads of trees, 

and the terrible Pans, the jeering 

Satyrs, awaiting his nod 

to renew their clamor* Likewise 
1255 a crescent to left of the fair 

Persephone : — ^the Qiarities three 

in snows of nudity 

chaste, the Naiads light-footed 

with eyes asparkle, the Maenads scarce 
J 260 held from resuming the dance 

orgyastic, (thyrsus in air 

and locks loose-tumbled, dappled faun-hides m 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



t^ 




A naiad and an 
oread sing by 
turns, and ef- 
fectually mer- 
ging tlieir rival 
hymns, illus- 
trate the fitness 
of the deities for 
a spiritual un- 
ion. 



^^ 



146 



RIVALS DIVINE 



ill-cIoaking shoulders wine-stain'd 
and voluptuous rosy-tipped breasts,) 

J 265 by the stilling look of the bride 

of their God. From the instant's hush 
unendurable, loud for sheer bliss 
cried a Naiad : ** Hail Aphrodite ! ** 
and answering an Oread 

1270 shrillM out: ''Apollo I'' Then each, 
interrupting the other's flow 
of rapturous song, alternate 
pursued the praise of her chosen 
deity, with reasoning melodious 

1275 as rival birds 

of the new-leav*d bush : — 



n 

Love ye the Goddess of gracious fall being? 

Know ye the God of delighted clear seeing ? 

She, of the tyrannous affinity 
1280 f^t knitting wholes of the several parts) 

He, stern sundering divinity 

who searcheth things to their secret hearts ? 

Beholdf it is She refineth 
to surfaces smooth all substance material 
1285 for the ray of the sun to illumine and <[varm — 



147 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




{48 



RIVALS DIVINE 



Behold it is He who shineth ^g 

and maketh alive and light and ethereal 
things coarse, dead, heavy, with spiritual 
form — 

Yea,, of Her is the splendor caught 
J 290 to the gladsome eye refracted; 
beauteous form made real 
for the human hand*s persistent 
soft, insatiate caress! 

By Him, from chaos and nought 
1295 things ordered, shapM, compacted, 

mirror the souPs ideal, 
and are nigh'r to man when distant — 
subtilized to loveliness ! 

Her function to set the senses ashiver^ 
1300 {"when heart is sick, 
and spirit is blind f) 
an immediate assurance procuring 
of the 'wealth and the <worth of the "world — 

His office the heart from sense to deliver; 
J 305 He rouseth the quick, 

inquisitive mind 
with a mystery ever alluring 
in the inmost folds of it furl*d 1 



J49 



r 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



T 




T 






ISO 



RIVALS DIVINE 



Who but She can save the mind 
1 3 JO from idle self-beholding? 

for Hers is the beauty of ebb and of flow 

in the manifold tides 

external: 

Whose the praise if men divin'd 
1 3 J 5 the world's gradual unfolding ? 

in changes and chances, the shine and the 

show, 
what is sure and abides 
eternal ? 

Aphrodite, thine alone the flower of living and 
breathing flesh! 

J 320 O Apollo, sun-extracted, thine its perfume 

dewily fresh ! 

Through Thee feeling and loving — and art that 
bids death defiance! 

Through Thee seeing and knowing, and 
man's life-mastering science. 




\s\ 



A 



r 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Demeter fortell- 
cth the mar- 
riage of beauty 
and trtith, art 
aad science 
(Aphrodite and 
Apollo). 



t52 



VOTIVE GIFTS 



t 



VOTIVE GIFTS 

I 

Then, gratulant outspake, benign, 
the Mother: '*Not twain 

1325 are our labors, nor matchM shall they be 
merely, as thou hast foretold, 
but mated, rather ; for which 
without either hath life ? Well, meseems 
and wisely thy maidens have sung 

1330 their mutual need. Yet, in days 

of virtue Hellenic, long-past (the former 

youth of the Gods) discontent 

drove them abroad over earth; for not 

in Olympus found they the sweets sufficient 

1335 of fellowship utter as yours, 

my children! Though whence 
this foreboding gladsome, beyond 
pious doubt, I know not ; but hark ! 
at the break of the day of their earliest 

J 340 meeting, the Maid, scarce aware 

of her deity's dawn, with the Youth 
(Him of sight. Him of mind, in Her 
fully shown to himself — 
Her of touch. Her of heart) 

1345 shall in wedlock be joined. And who 
if not ye their love with pledge 

153 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Persephone 
promiseth wed- 
ding gifts — and 
Dionysus is 
seized with the 
prophetic fury; 



T 



154 



VOTIVE GIFTS 



of progression shall checr> with votive 
gifts from lovers expert to lovers 
still in the best of their joy 
J 350 uninitiatc, — that day of supreme expectancy, 
prime of united lives ? ** 

n 

"What boon/' 

Persephone, blushing, 

replied, ** shall we dole unto Gods, 

1355 lovers? The Charities three 

of beautiful givingt and taking, and using, 
gladly I grant to the Bride, shall she visit 
Eleusis, the eve of her happy 
espousals ; and surely, Dionysus 

1360 Melphomenos, Lord 

of rhythm and phrensy poetic, will 
on the Bridegroom, his dearly lov*d brother bestow 
the mystic Muses of dance, music, song/* 
The God's smile her words affirming, — behold 

1365 the gaze abstract of his eyes 

took aureate lustre from worlds mist-molten, 
remote, (whose life with passionate dream 
prenatal, throbbeth in fire-seed ;) and straightway 
his lips parting, one shudder 

1370 thriird, beatific, the worshipping host 

entire, — by fury predictive attained, that each 
in his own soul only the words 
of the nuptial prophecy caught. 

J55 



w^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




whereupon he 
uttereth a mar- 
riage blessing 
upon the tw&in, 
proclaiming 
their joys of love 
and triumphs of 
their progeny. 



\Sb 



VOTIVE GIFTS 



Aphrodite, 
J 3 75 Eucharis, full of grace, full 

of charm, with thy Qiarities three, from whose 
hands 

are fair living, and loving ; 

ApoUo, 

Musagetes, leader frank 
J 380 of the sisters three, who translate 

man from earth-struggle to care-free 

altitudes human; the time 

of your blessed return impatient 

the world expecteth for aeons of righteous 
J 385 peace without end. And lo! 

it prepareth for you the privacy 

bridal, the couch creative of infinite 

rapture divine; that fatefully, 

fearfully drawn must ye be to bowers 
1390 where droop hot roses 

their crimson heads close, 

face by face; and about them hills 

rise, as in icy array defensive, whose tall 

lilies in winds of unconscious desire, 
1395 ring out their laughter-peals 

fragrant. And thither, O thither 

the mystical will of the life 

self-perpetuate shall tyrannous urge ye, ^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




r 



158 



VOTIVE GIFTS 



sweet love-maddened lovers; there, mouth ^^ 

1400 to mouth, ye shall know not self 

from the lovM one apart ; and the lilies 

moon-silvery erst, are sun-fulvid 

with pollen-stain rich ; and the roses, 

burst open, storm crimson petals, — 
1405 awhirl as they fall, in sign 

that the flesh, with voluptuous reluctance at last, 

panting, admitteth the mind^s 

penetrant stem resolve* 

Such shall the anguishful 
1410 gendering of Gods be, for jocund 

birth instantaneous. Rejoice, rejoice, 

O ye who the ancient Olympus 

rul'd, that, more absolute these — more adorably 

fair than of yore yourselves, shall effortless fell 
1415 the Titans, your foes rearisen, and aloft 

the summit sublime of the sacred 

mount, rear homes eternal, whence 

their sway shall extend all-potent forever 

o'er a nobler, a larger mankind ! 




J59 



^9 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




The gods of E- 
leusisarepraised 
for the sincere 
welcome they 
extend to more 
recent claim- 
ants of worship 
by maenads, sa- 
tyrs, pans, 
nymphs, chari- 
ties, muses. 



The muses set 
forth the neces- 
sity of polethe- 



160 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 



•t 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 

L General Chorus 

1420 All praise Dionysus^ 

Demcter^ Persephone, to your united divinity ! 

Your glories suffice us — 

blossom, fruit, life-seed, — great Eleusynian 
trinity. 

We laud you forever 
J 425 that hospitable ye are in your gracious affinity; 

devising new pieties 

that tighten, 

not sever, 

th^ old bonds of devotion; 
J 430 (the streams of our worship not lost in the ocean 

the dead-sea of a jealousy bitter and dumb, 

our longings not drownM in a lonely infinity,) 

we exalt you for hailing unbegotten societies 

of Gods that shall brighten 
1435 the ages to come. 

n. The Muses 

For the Gods are many and various : 
the good things that men love and desire. 
The life of the world were precarious 
if it burnM not with manifold fire. 

\6\ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The charities 
burst into a 
hymn unto the 
ancient Eros, 
God of love, 
ever young, 
ever wise, ever 
glorious, God of 
gods. 



162 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 



J 440 Men's ideals, — flame-gods, aspirations, 

rare excellences, heroisms sublime, — 
be innumerable as races and nations, 
as moods of man, moments of time. 
But the heights know each other, saluting 

J445 athwart the vast plains of low land : 

(the worship of each not confuting 
the worship of all,) hand in hand 
the glorious mountains enring us 
th* old earth of animal strife ; 

J450 and together, one in spirit, they sing us 

the paean of man's divine life. 

in. The Charities 

Hymn to Eros 

Yet who 

shall renew 

man's universe ? 
1455 restore to it 

a splendor pristine ? 

in the bath of cleansing fire immerse ? 

give more and ever more to it 

of the passionate heat suns kissed in 
1460 ere cool'd by the impious curse ? 

of the pride in spiritual might 

ere fell on man's bloom a blight, 

and the better was deem'd the worse ? 

)63 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




lb 



t44 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 

O Erost sole god-head primeval, ^K 

J 465 invisible witness thou wast 

of the continents* upheaval, 

from the warm love-Ianguorous sea ; 

and again, the whelming urgence 

of waters that boil'd and toss'd 
J 470 o'er the slow voluptuous submergence 

of the lands — from whom but from Thee ? 

Thou — atom to atom alliest, 

commingling the alien and strange, 

dissevering the likest and nighest, 
1475 allowing no ultimate rest ; 

and marshaled from chaos dismal, 

undergoing mystical change, 

the molecules stellar and prismal 

crystals compose at thy hest. 
J 480 Thou givest flowVs color and fragrance, 

and honey, 

that, poUen-shower'd, 

unawares 

the air's 
J 485 sunny 

vagrants 

to perform thy sweet tasks be empowered. 

Thou givest, many-hued 

iridescent 
1490 plumes to the birds ; yea, throats 

to trill, warble, pipe, whistle, incessant _^ 

)65 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The nymphs 
laud the divine 
issue of -wedded 
Apollo and 
Aphrodite, pre- 
dicting the con- 
descension of the 
goddesses to hu- 
man lovers. 



166 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 



subdued 

or triumphant rich notes. 

Of Thee, in thy season, all creatures 
1495 have special terror and grace ; 

softening man^s fiercer features, 

flushing maid^s meekest face. 

Of Thee, all friendships, heart-duties, 

devotions to social good, 
1500 all ardent faiths, luminous beauties, 

pure manhood, strong womanhood. 

Far to near, and upper to nether, 

lest they cease from being divine, 

th' very Gods thou knittest together, 
1505 and their glory and honor is thine. 

O Eros, the new ages shall feel Thee 

binding earth and heaven so close 

that lowliest souls shall reveal Thee 

th* High God in the common and gross I 

in. The Nymphs* 

1510 The God of daylight, the Goddess of form aglow 
O ancient Eros, *tis Thou shalt affiance : 
and glorious the race of new Gods that shall owe 
their being to wedded Art and Science. 
They shall dwell not idle in sky-courts remote 

1515 high-waird on perpetual blue above cloud; 

nor shall incense that men to their honor devote 
make them careless, cruel, ignobly proud ; # 

J67 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



T 




f68 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 

no hcav'ns shall they promise their worshippers ^P 

which never the living can hope to enter ; 
J 520 nor teach scorn of Earth, and all that is hers, 

on themselves men's devotions to center. 

They shall live on the heights, but heights ter- 
restrial 

of difficult — yet possible — ascent; 

master, not slay, in man what is bestial, 
1525 to subserve the divine intent. 

Nor icily chaste, without radiant issue, 

shall the Goddesses, wondrously beautiful, 

in crystal houses 'neath spreads of gold-tissue, 

dream, languorous, on couches of cloudy wool. 
J 530 For the haughtiest hath an Endymion, an Adonis, 

and knoweth some trysting-spot hallowed and 
dear, 

where she with him and her love alone is 

in wood or glade, by fountain or mere. 

Because, never ideals can wed one another 
J 535 though chosen manly spirits they may 

blessedly love; but twice blessed the mother 

of a hero who extends over earth her sway; 

and thrice blessed the hero, the half-divine 

who in his reflecteth his mother's face, 
1540 whose gentleness, purity, sweetness refine 

and ennoble, in living and dying, his race ! 



169 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The maenads 
shout jubilant- 
ly, and extol the 
■wisdom and 
justice shown in 
the mating of 
their godly sons 
to maids of 
earth. 






170 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 



IV 

O the Gods of masculine might, 

the splendors eternally fated, 

in vain with man would fight ; 
J 545 not so could they wrest of him, 

the truest, the best of him : 

for their cruel perfection hated. 

But, as Semele granted her beauty entire 

to Zeus the wielder of heavenly fire; 
J 550 as Danae yielded (when a storm-shower of gold 

fell through green boughs of hope) in the pas- 
sionate fold 

of his arms, to his fierce desire; 

as once Ariadne, the woe-begone 

tearful awoke in the blushful dawn 
J 555 to wed the wine-rapturous God of the bold; 

as Clymene fair of hair 

bowed dim in a flare of air 

radiant and hot from her sunbright Apollo; 

so the maidens of earth shall in ages to come 
J 560 be wooed of the gods in terrestrial disguise, 

and whithersoever they flee will follow 

Love with lustrous, worshipful eyes. 

Of ideals joy-begotten and born of earth-agony, 

womanhood grander shall visit mankind, 
1 565 courageous, strong, swift of foot, unable to fly on a 

skyward ascent of spirit and mind ; JJ 

J7I 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




db 



172 



HYMNS HYMENEAL 

beautiful, pure of soul, feminine evermore — ^J 

sisterly, motherly, wifely sweet : — 
might of brain, grace of heart, time shall not 
sever more 
J 570 married in womanhood final, complete. 




J73 



^ 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



9^ 



Satyrst pans and 
maenads are 
doomed not to 
perish, but to 
endure a benefi- 
cent transform- 
ation. 




J74 



INTERLUDE 



INTERLUDE 

Satyrs — O Pans, fierce Pans, they have proph- 
esied 
the death of your savage day ! 
Pans — O Satyrs, Satyrs, they lied, they 

lied— 
t* is ye who must first give way ! 
1575 Satyrs — Nay, Apollo will slay the human 

beast, 
and man no more on man shall feast I 
Pans — Aphrodite will conquer with a smile 
your drunken lusts, and your laugh- 
ters vile. 
Maenads — O Satyr, O Pan, why quarrel for 

naught ? 
1580 Not perish shall ye, but a change 

endure : — 
Pan to a terrible courage of thought, 
Satyr to laughter joyously pure. 
So shall ye serve man loyally both ; 
while soothing the wilder in us and 
the rougher 
1585 the ache, the bliss of spiritual growth 

we Bacchic maidens as surely must 
suffer. 

J75 



•f 



4 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 




MM«M*»MMMNMMC&£tiBia*«NM*af 



^ 



}76 



INTERLUDE 



Maenads — But in all that man thinketh, and 
feelcth, and willeth, 
and in all that he doeth shall ours 

be a part : 
the self-oblivious enthusiasm that 
filleth 
1590 with a sacred trust the mind and 

the heart. 




vn 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The water- 
nymphs see 
Aphrodite en- 
throned with 
Apollo in New^ 
Olympus. 



W^ 



J78 



Tree-nymphs 
describe the for- 
est-shaded road 
that leadeth op 
the holy mount.^ 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 



^ 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 

K The Naidds 

Aphrodite Eucharis — 
't is She^ 

in robe of dazzling dews 
(see, see !) 
1595 throning aloft 

pure^ gentle, soft ! 

The locks — of Apollo beside her — diffuse 

halo of sunny bliss, 

glory of many hues I 

2. The Dryads 

1600 Tell us! what shining street 

winds up Olympus sheer ? 

not surely for happy human feet ? 

Can men and matrons, youths and maids 

breathe air so pure ? 
1605 a lustre endure 

that fails not, nor fades ? 

feel of the Gods no stifling fear ? 

179 



A 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Hill-nymphs 
tell of human 
procession as- 
cending with 
ease and jubi- 
lation. 



Together the 
nymphs shout 
for joy at the 
splendor and 
vastness of the 
divine house. 



180 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 

3. The Oreads 

O happier, devoutcr race ! 

yours no penance, pleadings 
J 6 JO humiliant, 

hero-sorrows vicarious, 

and sore 

intercedings ; 

but footstep resilient 
\6\S and life-glad face, 

as ye come with jubilant cry 

in labyrinthine-various 

processional dance, 

each, boldly to occupy 
1620 a rightful place 

in the festal hall : — 



4. Chorus of Nymphs 

Ice-shiny floor, 
cloud marble wall 
and roofing expanse 
1625 of sky 

over all ! 



m 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




Whereupon the 
charities praise 
the banquet at 
which Demeter 
dealeth out her 
broken bread of 
sorrow, feeding 
the soul to holy 
strength ; 



T 



^ 



182 



and the muses 
add thereto, that 
Dionysus pour- 
eth forth foriall 
the blood-w^ine 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 

H 

I. The Charities 

Then at the board shall guest with host^ 

man with God sit down ; 

flowers spring forth that each loves most^ 
J 630 each crownM with an odorous crown; 

of pearl opalescent the massy dishes 

are pilM with all fruits that grow; 

greetings of love^ and pious wishes 

set every face aglow ! 
J 635 Then, lol 

Thou, Demeter, 

shalt solemnly, slowly, 

for Gods alike and for men, 

break bread 
1640 most holy— 

(than all meat sweeter — 

the loaf of grief and bereavement 

ground, kneaded, parchM with fire,) 

that strengtheneth to great achievement, 
1645 and maketh the fed 

aspire ! 

2. The Muses 

Dionysus, then, to their broken bread. 

Thou wilt pour 

more and more 

in crystalline bowls ^ 



J 650 



J83 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




of heroic self- 
unmolation 
that iospireth 
and rendereth 
divine. 



The maenads, 
satyrs, pans, 
nymphs, chari- 
ties, muses, all 
together, exult 
in the greatness 
oftheElusynian 
three, assuring 
them perpetuity 
of worship and 



(84 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 



iridescent^ 

the juices fire-red 

of grape-clusters bruisM^ 

sweet-scented 
J 655 with virtuous herbs aromatic: — 

the hero-blood that from death-wounds ooz^d 

as the slayers too late repented. 

O Wine by worship of grateful souls 

fermented ; 
1660 O Wine effervescent 

with the final bliss of self-sacrifice 

ecstatic; 

O intoxicant Wine 

without price 
J 665 from life's death-vat divine, — 

beget in each drinker, 

the lover's rapture Elysian, 

the poet's fury, the prophet's vision, 

the serene world-sight of the thinker I 

3. General Chorus* 

1670 Praise, praise everlasting 

to Thee, O Demeter 

to Thee, Dionysus, Thee daughter and bride 

Persephone, — holy Gods of Eleusis : — 

Thou who feedest the fasting 
J 675 to nourish the spiritual life of the eater, 

thy food sanctifying for worthiest uses; 

185 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




the tender re- 
gard of men to 
the last age of 
the world. 



^ 



186 



THE BANQUET OF THE GODS 

Thou who quenchest the thirst *^ 

for the best in the worst, 

till at length their desires be satisfied ; 
1680 Thou who bindest with love the twain 

in One; — 

As on earth so in heaven ye see it is : 

all thanks are held due, 

and all honor is done 
1 685 *o them who chose pain, 

not pleasure; 

great-hearted service, not griping sway ; 

who their might superhuman to measure 

build up, give life, — not demolish and slay ! 
1690 Wherefore, O noble Eleusynian deities 

we vow perpetual worship to you : 

wherefore thro* the ages for ever and aye 

though new names ye receive 

again and again, 
\ 695 no Gods more than You will we serve and believe, 

sung of children, lov'd of women,hallo Vd of men ! 




187 



4^ 



PART III 
THE AFTERSONG 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




The final cho- 
rus hath caused 
the poet to fall 
into an ecstasy ; 



so that he hath 
a vision of the 
city, erst foul 
and dark, made 
pure and full of 
light; 



^ 



J90 



THE AFTERSONG 




I 

ROM the confluent torrents of praise 
delirious waxed the dithyramb's 
worshipful fury : 
a vortex of rapture 
5 symphonious, fast-swirling, 

spray-bursts of clamor irrepressible, 
gurgling eddies in eddies 
of laughter, along on its surface 
of melody; breaking 
10 its uttermost edge to ecstatic surf 
Against hill-shores reverberant, 
its own violence engulfing 
in the abysmal deep of itself. 

n 

Rapt to vertiginous pitch 
15 above seeing and hearing, my soul 

soared immobile in hush and void ; 

till again life-aware, no vision 

deific disturb^ her incurious content. Below 

stood f leckless my city, ethereal, clear ; 
20 relucent with quivering wet 

from the holy wash of the rain ; 

gables, chimneys, towers, pinnacles, spires, 

m 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 





^. 




/ 


'\}>\ 




^ 

--^^t:'^ 
^'i-^ 


?(j 


hio^p 


^^^ 


Mt^ 


/'^fv^^V^N^ 


<^ 


\i 


f^\! ^-^ 


--nT 


M 


^:\ 



and straight- 
way he compre- 
hendeth the 
meaning of the 
entire vision. 



J92 



THE AFTERSONG 



to crystal transmuted, clove eager 
the vitreous, light-vibrant air; 
25 sparkrd, gleamM, flickered, flarM, flashed 

in the downpour of sunshine, whence swollen 
the fulgurant gold river flowed large 
to vanish behind proud heights 
whereon leaned the verge of the sky. 

m 

30 Then, a swift assurance of my mind 
took unreasoning possession. Before me 
was the foretold wonder in symbol fulfilled : 
coarse stuff of earth, deemM hitherto foul, 
now illustrious with spiritual ardor ; quick beams 

35 into wastes of dark nothing hurl'd 
uselessly forth, iix*d now 
in substantial splendor for man. 
And, as Demeter, ancient mother 
of sorrow, as Dionysus with blood-spotted 

40 garment, the bridegroom, undaunted 
of death, (in mystical fellowship held 
at Eleusis by love for the daughter, the bride 
Persephone,) hailM Apollo, 
Aphrodite haiPd, (in the myth 

45 of my dreaming,) their beneficent 

sway to divide o'er the fortunes of man : 

So, Life 

with studied iniquity 

J93 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 




194 



THE AFTERSONG 



dealing her doom of anguish 
50 selective, that the many thereby 

become few or barren, while the few 

mother many in their forfeited 

room at ease; 

So, Life 
55 inspiring his chosen 

the impossible to dare, with folly 

of will, that the few thus perish, and live 

in the marvel of the many a multiplied 

life of lives ; 
60 So, the world^s 

dire powers propulsive 

(at one in their passion alone 

for unfolding might and grace.) 

Evolution ! — 
65 Revolution ! — 

invite 

to a share in their secular 

toil, makers of man than they 

less cruel ; for, with vital doctrine Science,. 
70 enamorM, impregnateth Art, who in joy 

bringeth deathless ideals to the day, 

nobler, more vigorous, lords of a higher 

heaven, earth-transfigurers, begetters brave, 

yea, and beautiful bearers of men 
75 in their likeness, 

after their kind. 

J95 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



But his wonder 
waxeth greater 
when the city 
changeth to a 
vast theatre ; 







wm 



196 



and forthwith 
expandeth to his 
country — as the 
stage for the 
final display to 



THE AFTERSONG 



IV 

Comforted gazed I, though tears 

of gratitude dimmed my sight. 

For the city on a sudden became 
80 a sun-dazzling arena 

immense ; and her girdle 

of hills with their shelving 

streets (huge benches, tier over tier 

for intent spectators,) swept 
B>S amphitheatre-wise about ; and the river 

a choric procession, white-vested, 

an altar large 

encircled solemn and slow 

with song ; but beyond 
90 and above them, larger, arose 

the altar heroic for human 

oblation of bravery, rectitude, slain 

of their slayers but to triumph 

in them, 
95 o'er the wisdom of scarring 

experience, at last, 

as faiths inborn, and instinctive smiles ! 

V 

Bewildered, I stared (though passionate 
tears continued to blind me,) far 
100 athwart sky-reaches 

diaphanous, without ^M 

J97 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



P 



the world of the 
God in man. 




The poet, be- 
wildered aad 
amazed, dareth 
not disbelieve 
the truth of the 
vision ; where- 
fore he declareth 
it to his fellow- 



198 



THE AFTERSONG 



end; the elusive ^k 

horizon receding apace, till man's 

arena of achievement 
105 outspread to the length, in my view, 

and the breadth of the land 

best-beloved, by a monstrous 

half-ring 

environed, of eternal 
1 10 main-lands sea-welded 

together (the shine of vast strands 

with shine of wide waters blent,) — Europe 

and Africa east, and to southward 

America; Australia 
\ \5 with Asia in the west ; — 

the terrestrial amphitheatre's 

round, where the nations throng 

^g^ps, young and old 

at the spectacle new, the last act 
J 20 of hell, — heaven's first : 

the deification of Man ! 

VI 

Then close my eyes shut, by the portent 
dismayed, lest the former despair 
had bestowed no miraculous gift 
125 of far sight prophetic, but mock'd me instead 
with hallucinations : ** Too good, 
too beautiful," cried I aloud, 



J99 



H 



A VISION OF NEW HELLAS 



r 



men, tiiat they 
may decide 
whether it shall 
be proven true 
or false: — for in 
present deeds, 
make they the 
fate beautiful or 
hideous of all 
time to be. 




200 



THE AFTERSONG 



*' for wildest belief ! '' But gently 

my panic allayed to a calm 
J 30 certitude strange of great joy. 

Soft at my souFs car Hope 

whisperM : '* Too good, too beautiful 

not to be true — yea, and soon 

true for thee, true for me 
1 35 somehow, somewhere, sometime I ** 

Though the storm of seership 

stiird, I linger^ serene 

on the sheer height awhile of Culture 

Hellenic, at peace with my bliss — 
140 and smilM; for I caught myself unawares 

murmuring (some burden of a hymn 

in sweet dreams heard,) 

** Surely it should be, wherefore 

it shall be, it must be, it is 
145 as I saw it and see it again, 

and in vision have shown it to thee I " 




201 



^ 



MYTHOLOGICAL GLOSSARY. 

(^* j^* t^* i^* 

Dear Reader: 

Once upon a time it was the custom for an 
author to address you as "kind," " intelligent," "affable," 
"discreet," "appreciative;" for he had, of course, a very 
reasonable expectation of the compliment's return in due 
season with interest compounded at leisure. Alas, those 
easy-going days are no more. Fame is not to be so cheaply 
earned. Meanwhile, every writer, who is also a reader, well 
knows that with the multiplication of books, good and bad, 
no sane person is omnivorous nowadays, but, according to 
temperament and profession, more or less strictly herbivorous, 
granivorous or carnivorous. There must then surely be those 
among any author's friends who desire to praise his perform- 
ance fairly to his face, or fault it candidly behind his back, 
without the agonizing preparation of a personal perusal 
thereof. Fully appreciating such friends, and eager to put 
them in his debt by a piece of thoughtfulness, an old-fash- 
ioned ' ' argument ' ' is painstakingly set down here. 



ARGUMENT OF A VISION OF NEW HELLAS. 

The poet, disgusted with the modem industrial and commercial 
civilization (symbolized by the city in foul weather), climbs the hill of 
Hellenic culture in hopes of seeing the eternal blue of heaven. He 
is disappointed. Though the smoke-pall of sordidness is below him, 
the cloud-sky of pessimism continues overhead. 

In his despair, the ancient harvest-home goddess Demeter appears, 
and explains to the poet what is really going on in the city below: a 
development of the race by competition. Then arrives the vintage- 

203 



Mythological Glossary. 

god of life, Dionysus, and makes himself known to Demeter as the 
husband of her daughter, Persephone, goddess of bloom, mistakenly- 
supposed to have been carried off by Aidoneus, the god of death. 
Dionysus explains that he, the god of life, is indeed the god of death, 
because he is the god of heroes; that he is the slayer of the good and 
the noble, only in order that in their torture their true glory might be 
displayed. Thereupon Demeter adopts Dionysus as her son. 

In the joy of union between mother, daughter and son, they 
together resolve to bring again to life Aphrodite, the beauty of form, 
and Apollo, the light of the mind. Dionysus prophesies that in the 
modern world these shall be wedded (as they were not in Hellas), and 
that from them shall in time spring a new race of gods (ideals) which 
shall mingle with mankind, and uplift them till God and men can 
feast together at one divine board. 

Here the poet awakes from his vision. The prophetic storm has 
cleared the sky. The wind has dissipated the smoke, and the city 
stands beneath him in august beauty: the arena for the heroes of to-day. 

The poem concludes with an interpretation of the vision, which 

justifies our highest hopes for the race that shall inhabit the new and 

greater Hellas, and shall ever lovingly worship the hero-god as the 

god of life and death. 

♦ * * ^' 

Furthermore, dear reader, the author would fain observe 
that although the pedigree of the printer's dexdl is shockingly- 
brief, stretching back at best only to mediaeval days, this 
mythological parvenu has intruded his obnoxious person 
into the hallowed precincts of our classic poem ; and here 
follows an enumeration of his unseemly pranks. 

ERRATA. 

Page 37, verse 98: A parenthesis is missing at the end of the line. 

Page 55, verse 293: Read Jire instead of ire. 

Page 113, verse 914: Read Cyprus for Cypress. 

Page 141, verse 1207, and page 155, verse 1360: Read Melpotnenos 

for Melphomenos. 
Page 160: Read (in rubric) polytheism for poletheism. 
Page 184: Read (in rubric) Eleusynian for Elusynian. 
^ ^ ^ ^ 
204 



Mythoi^ogicai, Glossary. 

In conclusion, dear reader, lest at some remotely future 
day "he should wake up and find himself" prematurely 
" famous," and therefore desire to justify his extollers by a 
careful examination of this, his first mature performance, but 
should find himself sorely let and hindered by the then mil- 
dewed state of his Olympian lore ; provident of contingen- 
cies, your author has appended (purely for his personal 
convenience, be it remembered) a mythological glossary, 
the which Professor Frederick L,. Schoenle, of the University 
of Cincinnati, has been good enough to compile. 

Dionysus was god of flippant jest as well as of bloody 
earnest, so his bard's soberest communication need not be 
taken altogether seriously ; and if facetiously taken it should 
prove insipid, he knows you will not hesitate to provide from 
your own cellar a grain or two of salt with which all solemn 
asseverations should doubtless be seasoned even when 
dished in old-fashioned phrase. He laughs best who 
laughs at his own expense; for his mirth puts him in no 
neighbor's debt. Wherefore please to excuse, dear, kind, 
intelligent, discreet, sympathetic, long suffering, affable 
reader, the epistolary loquacity of your most obliged, humbly 
obedient servant and sincerest well-wisher, 

The Author. 



205 



MYTHOLOGICAL GLOSSARY, 



ti?* t(9* &?* t^* 



Adonis (a-do^nis). 

Son of Cinyrasand Myrrha, favor- 
ite of Aphrodite, slain by a boar. 
The death of Adonis (Thammuz) 
■was annually wept. He was an 
oriental God of nature, typifying 
the cycle of the seasons. 

Aegipan (e''ji-pan). See Pan. 

AiDONEUS (a-e-d6n''us). 
The Invisible; the God of the 
nether world, son of Kronos and 
Rhea, brother to Zeus; one of the 
chief Olympians, commonly call- 
ed Hades. 

Aphrodite (af-r6-di''ty). 
Goddess of love and beauty, born 
of the foam of the sea off the coast 
of Cyprus, wife of Hephaestus, 
paramour of Ares. Probably of 
Asiatic origin. 

Apoi,i,o (a-poFo). 

One of the great Olympian gods, 
son of Zeus and Leto, brother of 
Artemis, bom in Delos, originally 
identical with the Sun-god Helios. 
Lord of the light and life-giving, 
as well as of the death-dealing 
power of the sun; the all-seeing 
and all-knowing teacher of 
prophecy and truth; the master 
of sanity; the lord of healing; the 
god of harmony, hence of music, 
song, and poetry; leader of the 
muses, and patron of artists. 

Ariadne (ar-i-ad''ny). 

Daughter of Minos, King of 
Crete; assists Theseus out of the 



labyrinth, is abandoned by him 
on the island of Naxos, where 
Dionysus finds and weds her. 

Bacchus (baVus). 
The Shout er; a title of Dionysus 
as the riotous god. See lacchus. 

Bromios (bro'mi-os). 
The Noisy, the Boisterous; an 
epithet of Dionysus in his func- 
tion of Fire-god in the crashing 
lightning and the roaring of vol- 
canoes. In the Bacchic orgies the 
Bacchantes would imitate the 
noise of their god by the beating 
and thumping of drums. 

Charities. 
The triad, daughters of Chads 
[ka-'ris], (the personification of 
social charm and beauty), better 
known to moderns by their Latin 
name, Graces. 

Cl,YMENE (klim^e-ny). 
Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, 
wife of lapetus, and mother of 
Atlas and Prometheus. 

CycLADES (sik''-la-dez). 
A group of twelve islands in the 
Aegean Sea, forming a ring, a 
cycle, around the island of Delos. 

Cyprus (sl''prus). 
Name derived from its rich copper 
mines; favorite abode of Aphro- 
dite. 

DanaE (dan''a-y). 
The daughter of Acrisius of Ar- 



207 



Mythological Glossary. 



gos. Shut up in a brazen tower 
by her father, lest she become 
mother of a son fated to slay him; 
there she is visited by Zeus in a 
shower of gold, and gives birth 
to Perseus (the Slayer). 

DeIvOS (de'los). 
The smallest island of the Cycla- 
des, in the Aegean Sea, sacred to 
Apollo and Artemis, and their 
birthplace. According to one 
Greek legend it was originally a 
floating island, until Zeus fixed 
it to receive Leto: according to 
another legend it became visible 
on a sudden. 

DemeTER (de-me/ter). 
Goddess of agriculture and rural 
life, protectress of the home and 
social order, mother of Perse- 
phone, worshipped specially in 
Eleusis, and one of the great 
Olympian deities. 

Dionysus (di-6-nI''sus). 

"God of the Heavenly Dew," 
the god of wine, the god of the 
fire-spirit of life, the god of en- 
thusiastic frenzy and orgyastic 
worship. A god of manifold 
forms and manifestations, see 
Bromios, Bacchus, Dithyrambos, 
Melpomenos, lacchus, Zagreus. 
Prematurely bom in Thebes, of 
Semele, the beloved of Zeus, amid 
thunder and lightning, he was 
saved by his sire after the death 
of his mother. Our best source of 
information concerning his wor- 
ship is the Bacchae of Euripides. 

Dithyramb (dith''i-ramb). 
A choral song, accompanied by 
flutes and mimic dance, in honor 
first of Dionysus, afterwards of 
others, gods and men. Origin of 
the word unknown . According to 
the writer's conjecture the word 



dithyrambos applied originally to 
the god himself as a special title, 
like lacchus, and later came to 
signify the song of worship. The 
etymological meaning of dithy- 
rambos the writer believes to be: 
the-fire-hurled-f rom-heaven . 

Dryads (dri'adz). 
Tree-nymphs, nytnphs residing in 
trees, as their life-spirits. 

Eleusis (e-la^'sis). 
An old city of Attica, with an 
ancient cult of Demeter and Per- 
sephone, seat of the famous Eleu- 
sinian mysteries. 

Ei^YSiAN (e-lizVi-an). 
The Elysian fields are placed by 
Homer on the west border of the 
earth, near to Ocean; favored he- 
roes passed there without death. 
Hesiod's and Pindar's Elysium is 
in the Islands of the Blest. From 
these legends arose the fabled 
Atlantis, and Elysium was then 
placed in the nether world as 
abode of the souls of the good, 
answering to Tartarus, the nether 
region of the damned. 

Endymion (en-dim^i-on). 
A beautiful youth who had fallen 
asleep in a cave on Mount Latmus, 
where he was kissed by Selene 
(the moon). 

Eros (e-'ros). 
Eros, the primeval God of love, 
offspring of Chaos; the creative 
power of affinity and union 
among the elements of the world; 
to be distinguished from Eros 
(Cupid), the youngest of gods, 
Aphrodite's sportive son. 

EuCHARis (u''ka-ris). 
The Graceful, an epithet of the 
goddess Aphrodite. 



208 



MYTHOI.OGICAI, Gl^OSSARY. 



Evoi (e-woi''). 
Bacchanalian exclamation. 

Hades (ha'dez). 

(a) The Lord of the netherworld, 
identical with Aidoneus, brother 
of Zeus, husband of Persephone. 
(<&) The nether world of the 
spirits of the dead. 

Hei,i:,Enic (hel-en'ic). 
Grecian, from Hellenes [Greeks], 
inhabitants of Hellas [Greece] . 

Hephaestus (he-fes'tus). 
Son of Zeus and Hera, god of 
fire as used in art, and master of 
all the arts which need the aid of 
fire, especially of working in 
metal. 

Hermes (her'mez). 
Son of Zeus and of Maia, the 
goddess of despatch. Hence 
Hermes is the messenger of the 
gods; the conductor of defunct 
spirits; the giver of good luck, 
with especial reference to the 
increase of cattle; the god of all 
secret dealings, of cunning, of 
craft, of traffic, and skill; the 
tutelary god of markets, roads, 
and of heralds. 

IacchuS (i-ak^us). 

{a) TheOft-Shouter. The mystic 
name of Dionysus as companion 
of Demeter and Persephone in 
the ritual of the Eleusinian 
mysteries. 

{b) The festal shouting-song in 
honor of the god. 
lacchus, originally Vi-Vacchus, 
is the reduplicated form of Bac- 
chus [the shouter], hence con- 
veys an intensified meaning. 

LETO (le'to). 
The hidden; daughter of the Ti- 
tans, Cocus and Phoebe, goddess 



of heavenly night, mother of 
Apollo and Artemis, god and god- 
dess of sun and moon. 

LoxiAN (lox-'i-an). 
The oblique; epithet of Apollo, 
originally with reference to the 
slanting rays of the Sun-god, then 
applied figuratively to the Proph- 
et-god's ambiguous oracles. 

Maenads (me'nads). 
The Frenzied Ones; a general ep- 
ithet of the female votaries of Di- 
onysus, both human and divine. 

Melpomenos ( mel-pom-'e-nos ) . 
The Bard; an epithet of Apollo as 
the lyre-playing leader of the 
chorus of Muses. Also a special 
title of Dionysus in his relation 
to the Muses. 

MUSAGETES (mii-saj''e-tez). 
The conductor of the Muses; an 
epithet of Apollo. 

Muses (muz''ez). 
Emanations of Dionysus; accord- 
ing to the more usual version 
daughters of Zeus and Mnemos- 
yne. At first goddesses of mem- 
ory, then inspiring goddesses of 
song, finally goddesses of the 
different kinds of poetry, of the 
arts and sciences. No definite 
number is fixed in the Homeric 
poems; later three, afterwards 
nine are mentioned. The Muses 
are intimately connected with 
Apollo Musagetes. 

Naiads (na^yads). 
Water-nymphs; nymphs residing 
in springs and streams, the life- 
spirits of springs and streams. 

NerEUS (ne're-us, or ne'rus). 
A Sea-god, father of the fifty 
Nereids, sea-nymphs. 



209 



Mythologicai, Glossary. 



Ol^YMPUS (o-lim-'pus). 

The name of various sacred 
mountains, but especially of the 
mountain on the Macedonian 
frontier of Thessaly. In the Iliad 
this mountain is conceived as the 
seat and home of the Olympian 
gods, who have their mansions 
on the highest peak and in the 
dells below. The Iliad draws a 
sharp distinction between Mount 
Olympus and the firmament of 
heaven; but in the Odyssey the 
two terms seem to be identical 
and interchangeable. 

Oreads (6're-ads). 

Hill-n3Tnphs, mountain-nymphs, 
nymphs residing in mountains 
and hills, the life-spirits of 
mountains and hills. 

Pactoi,US (pak-to''lus). 

A small river in Lydia, Asia 
Minor, celebrated, in early an- 
tiquity, for its gold 

Pan (pan). 
The god of pastures, forests, and 
flocks. Arcadia his main seat of 
worship. Son of Hermes by a 
Nymph; represented with goat's 
feet (hence the name Aegipan), 
horns, and shaggy hair. Some- 
times conceived as surrounded 
by fellows like himself. 

Parnassus (par-nas'us). 
A mountain ridge near ancient 
Delphi. The ridge has two lower 
peaks, about 2000 feet above sea- 
level. These are the twin-peaks 
of Roman and modem poets. But 
the simimit rises high above these 
peaks, about 8000 feet above sea- 
level. The high ground above 
the two lower peaks, but below 
the siunmit of Parnassus, consists 
of uplands stretching about 16 



miles westward from the summit. 
These uplands were the scene of 
Dionysiac festivals, as well as the 
haunts of Apollo, Dionysus, the 
Muses, and Nymphs. 

Persephone ( per-sef ''o-ny ) . 
Daughter of Demeter; wife of Ai- 
doneus; queen of the under-world, 
residing six months of the year 
in Olympus, six months in the 
infernal regions. Intimately asso- 
ciated with the mysteries of Eleu- 
sis. The etymological meaning 
of the name is, ' ' she who brings 
[vegetation] to light. ' ' 

Phoebus (fe''bus). 
The Shining One; an epithet of 
Apollo. 

Poseidon (p6-si'don). 
Son of Kronos and Rhea, brother 
of Zeus; one of the chief Olym- 
pians, god of the water, especially 
of the sea, husband of Amphitrite. 

Proteus (pro'te-us, and pro-'tus). 
A sea-god, son of Oceanus and 
Tethys, who could assume differ- 
ent forms; hence protean . 

Pythian (pith''i-an). 
An epithet of Apollo, who slew 
the serpent or dragon Pj^thon 
possessed of the spirit of sooth- 
saying. In Delphi, at the foot of 
Mount Parnassus, deep under the 
earth the god buried the Python, 
from whose rotting remains 
magic vapors would rise through 
a chasm, to prepare the Pythia, 
the prophetess of the Delphic 
oracle, for the inspirations of 
Apollo. The slaying and burial 
of the Python [the symbol of 
Earth Oracular] mark the advent 
of the Apollinic cult in Delphi, 
and the absorption of the old by 
the new cult. 



MYTHOI.OGICAI, GI.OSSARY. 



Satyr (sa-ter). 

Companion of Dionysus, repre- 
sented with long pointed ears, 
snub nose, goat's tail, small bud- 
ding horns behind the ears, and 
later with goat's legs. Sylvan 
deity, typifying the luxuriant 
growth in nature. 

SEMEI.E (sem'e-ly). 

Daughter of Cadmus and Har- 
monia, mother of Dionysus by 
Zeus. 

SlI,ENUS (si-le''nus). 

Foster-father and constant com- 
panion of Dionysus; father of the 
Satyrs, a sylvan deity. 

Styx (stiks). 
The hateful; a river of the nether 
world, the tenth part of the water 
of Oceanus; also the nymph of 
this river, eldest daughter of 
Oceanus and Tethys. 

Tartarus (tar-'tii-nis) . 

A deep and sunless abyss, as far 
below Hades, as earth is below 
heaven, the prison of the Titans. 
Later, Tartarus was either the 
nether world generally, synony- 
mous with Hades, or the regions 
of the spirits of the damned, as 
opposed to the Elysian fields. 

Thyrsus (ther'sus). 

The Bacchic wand, carried by the 
votaries of Dionysus in their 
orgies; a staff tipped with a pine- 
cone, sometimes wreathed in ivy 
and vine-branches. The word 
seems to apply originally to the 



resinous pine-torch used in the 
torch-festivals of the god. 

Titans (tnanz). 

A race of primordial gods, six 
sons and six daughters of Uranus 
and Gaia [Heaven and Earth], 
viz.: Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hy- 
perion, Japetus, Kronos; Theia, 
Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, 
Phoebe, Tethys. At first their 
abode was in heaven; but when 
Zeus, the son of Kronos, de- 
throned his father, he thrust 
them, after a terrific struggle, 
into the nether darkness of Tar- 
tarus. They are the gigantic 
representatives of the violent 
forces of Chaos. 

Triton (tri'ton). 

Son of Poseidon and Amphrite, 
a gigantic sea-deity. Later used 
in the plural to denote a lower 
race of sea-gods, the companions 
of the Nereids. 

ZaGREUS (za'grus). 
The Hunter of Life; special title 
of Dionysus in his relation to 
Hades. 

ZephyruS (zef^i-rus). 
The personification of the west 
wind, soft and gentle. 

Zeus (zQs). 
The supreme deity of the world, 
the chief of the Olympian gods, 
son of Kronos and Rhea, king 
and father of gods and men, 
husband of Hera, lord of the 
starry heavens, master of all ce- 
lestial phenomena. 










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